


Of Angels and Demons

by dyoityourself



Series: Heaven and Hell SKZ [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Cults, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Genderswap, Guardian Angels, Heaven & Hell, Heavy Plot, Humor, M/M, Magic, Minor Violence, Other groups cameo, Polyamory, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Time Travel, female!changbin, im excited, the bois back at it again, youll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:14:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 81,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23661382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyoityourself/pseuds/dyoityourself
Summary: A continuation of "Of Heaven and Hell"*SPOILERS AHEAD if you have NOT read part 1 yet*Minho: Transitioning to the life of a demon is hard, add on top of that a relationship with one? Minho’s not sure he’ll make it throughJisung: //let me love you intensifies//Changbin: He’s really been going through it, but things aren’t all bad, at least he’s not stuck in a cell anymore—right?Felix: For a mind reading angel, his powers seem rather useless when he can’t even read that of his own boyfriendJeongin: He’s been having dreams lately—err, more like nightmares, and he’s got a sinking feeling he knows exactly who to blame…Seungmin: He’s a legend… literally. And there’s not much to do for someone that shouldn’t existHyunjin: He’s just glad Seungmin’s back, but it seems Seungmin’s not the only boyfriend he has to look out forChan: Being the King of Hell is starting to become a lot more work than he bargained for, he doesn’t get paid enough for this shit (actually, he doesn't get paid at all)Jaehyun: It’s back to square one for Jaehyun, and he’s got a lot to make up for
Relationships: Bang Chan/ Jung Jaehyun, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Series: Heaven and Hell SKZ [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703692
Comments: 182
Kudos: 243





	1. The rebirth of a Nephilim

**Author's Note:**

> *WARNING*  
> Pls do not read if you haven't read part one!! Spoilers man tsk tsk
> 
> I am back!! I truly hope you guys enjoy this continuation of the story, I haven't quite finished it yet, but I got a gooooddd portion of it written and I was too excited to wait any longer :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first chapter and we jumping right in folks! I hope you remember what happened at the end of part 1, if not—I'm sure It’ll come back to you ;)

“Do they still hate me?” Changbin asked, pouting in the chair across from Felix’s desk. Well, he supposed technically it was Jaehyun's desk, but considering the former leader of angel’s—actions, it was now Felix’s.

“They don’t hate you,” Felix reassured, giving Changbin a look, “They just—hate the fake you that killed some of their friends?”

Felix wasn’t always the best at pep talks. Changbin’s frown deepened.

“Just give them some time. They know what happened now, the truth. Over time, I’m sure the angel’s won't hold the same prejudice against demons.” Felix had gradually made his way over to Changbin until he was leaning down, cupping the demon’s cheeks in both hands.

Changbin had been so frail when they’d rescued him from the shapeshifter, but Felix was delighted to see his boyfriend’s cheeks were starting to fill out again. Soon, he’d have his chubby cheeked Binnie back for good.

“That’s optimistic, Lix. Angel’s will never love demons.” Changbin grumbled. Felix raised an eyebrow.

“I love you, don’t I?”

Changbin met Felix’s eyes, and Felix was shocked yet again at the amount of love emenating from Changbin every time he looked at Felix. The two were leaning in for a kiss—when the door to the office burst open.

“Felix—” Jihyo’s strained voice came. Changbin disappeared immediately as to avoid being seen by any other angels. It didn’t sit well with Felix that Changbin had to hide, but Changbin insisted, considering that since Felix was now their stand in leader, he probably shouldn’t be seen with a demon.

Though Felix knew he was right, what with angel and demon stigmas and all, he still didn’t like it.

“Yes, Jihyo?” Felix grit out, forcing a polite smile onto his face. He was a little annoyed that the interruption made his boyfriend disappear.

Jihyo’s stormy eyes look at him. She didn’t say anything, only stepped aside as two other angel’s shoved in a bound figure. Felix’s eyes grew wide.

“Hello, Lixie,” Jaehyun smiled, “Long time no see.”

~

“Wow you’re—surprisingly good at knife throwing.” Jisung said a little apprehensively as Minho threw another dagger straight into the middle of the target board.

Minho shrugged, “I used to fantasize stabbing you all the time.” Jisung whipped to look at him in betrayal.

“I’m kidding!” Minho said, blowing Jisung a kiss; the demon looked pleased. “Maybe.”

“What was that?” Jisung asked, obliviously smiling at Minho.

“Nothing.” Minho smiled back, already picking up the next dagger, but before he could throw it, the door behind them banged open, and without really thinking, Minho sent the dagger flying towards the intruder, only for the dagger to stop midair. Chan stood unfazed as the dagger clattered to the ground.

Minho and Jisung gaped at the demon. “H—hyung!” Jisung exclaimed. They hadn’t seen Chan since—The Incident. The demon king gave them a tight-lipped smile, though the worried crease in his brow spoke volumes.

“Hey guys, have you seen, ah—Seungmin?” Chan asked, somewhat sheepishly.

Minho and Jisung continued to stare.

“Seungmin?” Minho asked, heart leaping at the mention of his friend. “Is he alright? Did you bring him back?” Minho stumbled over to Chan, Jisung rushing after to grab hold of Minho’s arm.

“Yeah, we did, but—well,” Chan started, but before he could finish, a panicked Jeongin flashed in out of the shadows.

“Hyungs! It’s Seungmin—” Jeongin stopped short when he noticed Chan was also in the room. Instead of being overjoyed like Minho had expected, Jeongin was angry. He rushed up to Chan, Hellfire sparking in his eyes. He grabbed the King of Hell by the front of his shirt.

“What did you do to him?” Jeongin asked, completely disregarding honorifics. Minho and Jisung gaped at the display. Chan let the younger shake him angrily, looking guilty himself.

“We did the only thing we could do, Innie, to bring him back. It wasn’t easy, but he’s going to be okay. He just—left before we could help him.” Chan said quickly. “Is he safe? Did he find you?”

Jeongin’s grip on Chan’s shirt loosened, and he nodded. “He’s not looking good though, he keeps fading back and forth between human and—” Jeongin trailed off, him and Chan exchanging glances.

“And what? What did you do to him?” Minho asked, protective mode switched on for his best friend. He longed to see Seungmin, but he didn’t want his relief to be premature if Seungmin was still hurting.

Chan looked at him, the guilt still shone in his eyes. “It wasn’t our first choice, at least, it wasn’t _mine,_ but there wasn’t much else we could do.” Chan said vaguely.

“Hyung, just tell us. If Seungmin’s hurt, we need to help him.” Jisung said, his grip on Minho’s arm the only thing keeping Minho grounded.

“Well, to bring him back, Jaehyun gave him some of his blood, but it wasn’t enough. So—I gave him some of mine as well.” The demons in the room gasped.

“Hyung! That’s—that’s illegal!” Jisung hissed.

“Well, considering I’m the king here, I made an executive decision. It’s just that, by doing so, we were able to revive him, but he’s—well—”

“You turned him into a Nephilim.” Jeongin breathed in shock. Minho wasn’t sure exactly what the big deal was, but he knew that whatever a Nephilim was, was far from _human._

“What we didn’t expect was for Seungmin to fight back. The human part that’s left of him isn’t giving in to the Nephilim side, and it’s causing him to fade between the two, but _Innie_ —the Nephilim side will win out in the end. It’s the stronger side. I’m surprised he even went this long fighting it. He’s only hurting himself by fighting against it.” Chan said. He looked concerned, and extremely drained, like he hadn’t rested for days or weeks—and perhaps he hadn’t.

Jeongin looked at war with himself. “You can help him?” He asked. Chan nodded.

“If you’re going back, I want to come too. I want to see Seungmin.” Minho said, starting forward. The others didn’t say anything, only nodding as Jeongin opened a portal for them to step through. If the others were surprised by this sudden show of powers, they didn’t show it. Minho walked into the darkness, hand clasped tightly in Jisung’s, praying that his best friend would be alright.

~

Hyunjin was near tears as he watched Seungmin’s catatonic form on their shabby apartment sofa. Seungmin hadn’t woken up since they’d brought him home, but his figure would occasionally flash between human and something distinctly _not_ , his face scrunched in pain. Hyunjin held tightly onto his hand and didn’t let go for one second.

He wished he could take the pain onto himself instead. He hated not being able to help Seungmin. He was his _guardian angel God damn it_!

A familiar sound alerted him of Jeongin’s arrival. Hyunjin turned around to see Jeongin had brought the whole demon crew with him. Hyunjin wasn’t sure if he was relieved, or anxious. Probably both.

“Chan—” Hyunjin breathed in shock, not expecting to see the demon king. Though he supposed he should have known. If Seungmin had been with Chan before this, then Chan must know what’s happened to him.

A flicker of hope lit in Hyunjin’s chest.

“Can you help him?” Hyunjin’s voice was strained, being on the brink of tears for the past hour wasn’t helping. Chan didn’t answer, his eyebrows scrunched in concern as he knelt by Seungmin’s side.

“Seungmin, if you can hear me, you have to stop fighting.” Chan said, right as Seungmin’s form started to flicker. Minho gasped behind them, a broken “ _Seungmin_ ” on his lips.

“Seungmin, I’m sorry, but it was the only way to bring you back. You have to stop fighting it. It’ll be okay. You’ll be all right.” Chan’s voice was earnest. The king looked like he wanted to reach out to the boy, but Hyunjin wouldn’t let him get any closer.

Seungmin’s face scrunched in pain again, and Hyunjin tightened his grip on Seungmin's hand.

“Minnie,” Jeongin was standing on Hyunjin’s other side, the demon placed a hand on Seungmin’s sweaty forehead. “It’s all right Minnie, please stop fighting. Just—come back to us, we’ll take care of you, I promise.”

Hyunjin had an inkling of what had happened to Seungmin, but he didn’t want to believe it, didn’t want to believe that the boy he saw in front of him wasn’t human anymore, but a _Nephilim_. Something that even in his world, was much like a myth. It had to the what Seungmin was fighting. Hyunjin wondered if it was a good idea to stop.

“ _Please, Min, come back._ ” Hyunjin prayed in his head that Seungmin would hear it. Seungmin’s form started to flicker faster, until they couldn’t discern one form from the other. Hyunjin didn’t let go one his hand, needing to know that Seungmin was still there, to ground himself more than anything.

Seungmin’s body arched off the couch, and with a gasp and a grunt, he sat bolt upright. His human form nowhere to be seen. Instead, his gold tinged black wings were scrunched awkwardly behind him, golden eyes shining brightly as he stared at seemingly nothing.

“Seungie?” Hyunjin breathed, tugging a little on his hand. Seungmin turned his face towards Hyunjin, staring at the angel unseeingly, before his gaze traveled to Jeongin’s and then the rest of the spectators crowded around.

He blinked before his face scrunched inwards, eyes dimming by several degrees as golden tears streaked down his cheeks. He threw his arms around Hyunjin, crying into the angel’s shirt. Hyunjin squeezed Seungmin back with all his might. He felt another presence wrap themselves on top of them, _Jeongin._

Seungmin had just pulled a little away from the hug for a breather, when Minho exclaimed, “EVERYBODY WHO ISN’T MY BEST FRIEND NEEDS TO MOVE!” as he barreled through, throwing his arms around Seungmin in a death grip.

“Seungie I thought you—I missed you so much.” Minho said into Seungmin’s neck, voice wavering.

“I missed you too Minnie hyung.” Seungmin said with a little smile as he pulled away to take in Minho’s face. The exchange was nice and all, but Hyunjin thought he deserved the most Seungmin time. Seungmin was _his_ charge after all, but Hyunjin realized with a start that the bond between him and Seungmin, the emotional connection every guardian angel shared with their charge—was gone. In it’s place was only a cold sense of emptiness.

Hyunjin quickly filed that away for later, trying hard not to panic. He brought himself up onto the couch to sit next to Seungmin to grab hold of his hand, anything to feel closer. He examined Seungmin’s face for any signs of discomfort, but only saw a fond smile on his lips.

“How do you feel?” Chan asked. The king had kept his distance, along with Jisung who seemed like he wanted to do join in--but didn’t.

“I’m okay—I think. I don’t remember anything.” Seungmin said with a frown.

Hyunjin squeezed Seungmin’s hand, “That’s okay, we can fill you in on all that later. What’s important is that you’re okay.”

“I think I’m okay, but I feel—different.” Seungmin admitted, his wings unfolding just the slightest behind him. _You feel different to me too,_ Hyunjin thought.

“Well, I’d assume so, Seungie, you have wings now.” Minho pointed, and Seungmin stiffened. Golden eyes looking at them quizzically.

“Wings?”

Jeongin reached out behind him to tentatively poke at one. Seungmin gasped, his wing flinching at the touch.

“Wha—?” Seungmin twisted around to get a better look, eyes boggling at the sight. “These are—they’re mine?” He reached out a finger to poke at his own wings, like they might lash out at him, breathing in sharply when his finger made contact.

“Oh my god.” Seungmin said.

“You’re a Nephilim now.” Chan said. Hyunjin shot him a look, this couldn’t be good to throw everything onto him at once.

“I’m a wha—?” Seungmin questioned, but Hyunjin was already shaking his head.

“You’re alive, is what you are. And that’s all we need. You can rest, and we’ll tell you more about it later.”

Seungmin stood up abruptly, startling everyone _and_ himself when his wings unfurled behind him. Seungmin yelped, ducking as if he could get away from them, but they only followed him on the way down.

“Seungmin!” Hyunjin exclaimed, both him and Jeongin reaching out for the boy. Seungmin brushed them away.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” He mumbled, clearly he wasn’t.

“Thank you guys for coming here, but—can you leave?” Hyunjin was wringing his hands together, a bad habit of his when he felt he’d lost control of a situation. “I think he need less people, more space.”

“Maybe we should take him back with us, it isn’t exactly safe out here in the human realm,” Chan began, but Hyunjin shot him a glare.

“No, we are _not_ going back to Hell. Seungmin is going to stay here, and we will protect him.” Hyunjin said determinedly. “Right Innie? … Innie?” He turned to look at the demon, but Jeongin wouldn’t meet Hyunjin’s eyes, his jaw working as he stared at a spot on the floor.

“Maybe we should bring him back to Hell, Jin hyung.” Jeongin finally said.

“What??”

Jeongin’s cat slit eyes met his, his ears flicking atop his head. “What if something else happens? We don’t know anything about—this,” Jeongin gestured vaguely to Seungmin, “But Chan hyung knows. He can help.”

Hyunjin puffed out a breath of anger. He hated that what Jeongin said made sense. He didn’t want to go back to Hell, he didn’t want to admit he needed a demon’s help, but after all, a demon’s help had gotten him this far.

“Fine.” The lone angel relented. “But I’m coming too.”

“Woo, and back to Hell we go.” Minho said with a whooping spin of his finger, “That was sarcasm folks. Heavy. Sarcasm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So—that was rather emotional for a first chapter mb, we just had to address the—Nephilim in the room (heheh I don’t even know if that was a good pun but oh well) I'm glad to be back bois, glad to be back
> 
> And as always, kudos and comments are much appreciated!! <3
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	2. Much ado about Jaehyun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the angels hold a conference over what to do with Jaehyun, and Jeongin gets an unorthodox visit.

It had been a few days since Jaehyun had popped back into Heaven uninvited. After checking in with their— _acquaintances_ —in Hell and being filled in on what had happened with Seungmin, Felix called for an intervention with some of the other angels. Heaven wasn’t quite a democracy, but Felix felt like they had a right to have some say in the matter.

Changbin had been anxiously waiting for Felix in the angel’s room when Felix finally came back. Guilt had tripped up the angel at the thought of him basically _hiding_ Changbin in his room, like Changbin was a stray dog he’d found off the streets that he knew his parents would never approve of keeping. Except, Changbin wasn’t a dog, he was a demon, and instead of fearing parents, he feared the other angels.

After Felix filled him in on what had happened, Changbin looked worried, but Felix gave him an apology kiss and that seemed to be enough to placate the demon, for now.

“I guess I’ll just—stay here then. Organize your linen closet, or something.” Changbin had joked. Felix had wanted to laugh, but he’d felt guilty instead.

He wished he were back with Changbin now instead of where he was, in the Miroh with a dozen angels, discussing their former leader’s fate. The angels didn’t exactly have a committee room or something to discuss things in, they were more action, “just do it” sort of beings, so on the rare occasions that they did hold a meeting, it was usually in the Miroh.

“Why don’t we just kill him?” One of the angels, Junghoon said.

“Because we’re angels, Junghoon, we don’t _kill_ , and especially not our own kind.” Mina bit back.

“Ok, why don’t we “recycle” him then? You know, good ol’ reincarnation.”

That caused a murmur from the group. Felix mulled the thought over in his head, but it didn’t sit well with him. As betrayed by Jaehyun as he felt, as they all felt—he didn’t want to _kill_ his hyung. He couldn’t imagine ever wanting to kill Jaehyun. He’d looked up to him not too long ago, he’d regarded Jaehyun with such admiration that he might have even been higher than God. 

“We aren’t going to kill him,” Felix spoke up, “That’s not how you learn from your mistakes. And Jaehyun has been here longer than most of us have. Did he betray us? Yes, but he’s also done a lot of good things for Heaven. We can’t forget all of that.”

There were a few nods from the group, and some more murmurs of thought.

“That’s ridiculous, Jaehyun was basically the one to mastermind the whole thing! He killed our own!” Junghoon exclaimed, arm jabbing angrily towards the ground. That caused a chaotic out break from the group.

“You’re right, he did, but the punishment for killing angels isn’t death. Nor do I think it is a suitable punishment, frankly.” Felix said plainly. It wasn’t his law to claim, anyways. The mandates of Heaven had been written long before Felix had become and angel.

“What do you suggest we do, then?” Jihyo’s voice came from his side. Felix turned to the angel; she was different than she’d been not even half a year ago. Jihyo seemed less angry than she used to be, a lot of them were, now that they had finally gotten closure over who had hurt so many of their own. Jaehyun was the last page they had to file away.

“I say we give him a charge.”

There was an almost comical, collective gasp from the group, and Felix couldn’t help the little smile that creeped onto his face.

“Wait—he has a point, if we give him a charge, he’ll have no choice but to protect them,” Mina said, “And he won’t be able to go off on his own. He’ll be bound this his charge’s side.” She nodded in favor of the idea.

“That way he’s always accountable.” Mark added. He a relatively new angel (of 50 or so years) but one of their most promising. Felix gave him a small smile.

“And who knows, maybe having him be around a human will bring back some—humility in him.” Jihyo said, turning to grin at Felix.

“Agreed. So, are we all in favor of giving Jaehyun a charge?” Felix asked the room. Each angel in attendance nodded in agreement, even Junghoon, who nodded with some reluctance. This wasn’t exactly a democracy after all, in the end—it was Felix’s choice to make.

“Wonderful. Jihyo? I’m sure you can find someone for him, right?”

Jihyo’s smile turned into a manic grin, “Oh, I’m sure I can find one just fine.”

~

“They’re giving him a _what_?” Jisung and Hyunjin asked incredulously when Changbin came back to Hell to give them the news. Felix had been too busy with all the arrangements to tag along. His boyfriend was really working hard up there, Changbin blew a supportive kiss upwards in his mind.

“Actually, I think that’s a great idea.” Chan said with little emotion. The demon king and been acting tense ever since Changbin had mentioned Jaehyun. They were all curious about what had happened between the leaders of Heaven and Hell for the month they’d been gone with Seungmin, but the king wouldn’t tell them much.

 _“We were a little busy trying to raise Seungmin from the dead, thank you very much.”_ Chan had huffed when Jisung had pried for more answers.

“If he has a charge, he’ll be stuck with the human, and he won’t be able to sneak away.” Changbin relayed what Felix had told him.

“Ooh, please,” Jisung bemoaned, “Trust me, I know.” He looked disdainfully at Minho, who scrunched his own face back in distaste. Changbin wasn’t sure who they were trying to fool. Everyone knew the two were smitten for each other.

_Eww, smitten? I really am spending too much time cooped up with Felix’s stupid romance novels._

Changbin missed his friends, he’d been spending the majority of his time with Felix, which don’t get him wrong, was amazing. He missed his angel boyfriend like Felix was the right hand they’d chopped off and he’d only just grown back. _The guards had threatened to do just that once,_ Changbin gave a full body shudder at the thought. He tried hard not to think about those guards, about how _helpless_ —

“Binnie?” Jisung’s voice called out to him, he was waving a hand in front of his face. Changbin blinked back to the present, lunging forward to fake-bite Jisung’s hand. Jisung squealed, leaning away into Minho’s side.

Changbin chastised himself. He had to stop zoning out like that or they’d start to worry even more about him. They were already cautious around Changbin as it was, no one would sneak up on him anymore after the time he’d almost flambéed Jisung by tossing him into the Hellfire fireplace. Changbin didn’t need his friends to be walking around on pins and needles for him though. He was determined that would only make matters worse.

“So that’s it? He kills Seungmin and they’re just going to give him another _human_ to protect? Isn’t that ironic?” Jeongin scoffed, arms crossed over his ever-bulking chest. Changbin ogled a little at their youngest. _Since when had Innie gotten so hot—_

“HAH! Now that you mention it, that _is_ the perfect punishment!” Jisung said, “Remind me to give Felix a high five next time I see him.” He smiled proudly like Felix was his bestest friend. Well, _Changbin_ was his bestest friend, but he sometimes wished Jisung and Felix would be closer. His demon best friend, and his angel boyfriend—on second thought, maybe Changbin didn’t want that. 

“That poor human,” Hyunjin tsked, combing through Seungmin’s hair with his fingers. Seungmin’s hair had taken on a reddish glow to it in his new form. Changbin had to admit, he liked the look on the kid. It turned his former “soft boy” image into an almost badass one. The gold tinged black wings were also a look. Changbin was almost jealous. All he had in his demon form was paper white skin and fangs. He might as well be a vampire for crying out loud.

“At least he won’t be able to hurt anyone.” Minho added, not without anger. Clearly, he was still holding a grudge on the angel, though weren’t they all?

Chan however, kept silent. The king was arranging and then rearranging the piles of paper on his desk. His jaw was locked tight, like he was keeping himself back from saying something. Changbin was even more curious now about what had gone on between the two.

“Maybe this will be good for him, like going back to your roots.” Hyunjin said, “You forget about how it all started sometimes, once you’ve reached the top.” He leaned back on his arms. “All new angels start off as guardians, after all.”

~

“You’re giving me a _what_?” Jaehyun asked incredulously, the chains around his hands rattled a little in the cell they had put him in. It was a rather nice cell, if you asked Felix, far better than the cell his boyfriend sat in for a whole year, alone and scared, all because Jaehyun hadn’t bothered to inform them Changbin wasn’t _Changbin._ Even though he _knew_ Felix was in love with the demon.

Felix’s frown deepened.

“You heard me.” Felix said, voice clinical as he flipped through the files Jihyo had provided him about the human Jaehyun was going to protect.

Jaehyun blubbered, “I think my skills are far superior than to be used protecting a _human_ , Lixie—”

“Don’t call me that.” Felix snapped, glowing, blue eyes catching Jaehyun’s in a fierce stare off. It was easy to forget that Felix had once idolized Jaehyun when he thought about the horrible things that had come from Jaehyun’s actions. It was easier to ignore the part of Felix deep down that still cared.

“Your charge, a cop in Seoul named Jeon Jungkook. His files say he’s cursed, but that curse is until now unknown. That’s why you are going to protect him. Sound good?”

“Do I have a choice?” Jaehyun asked in defeat.

“You will also be reporting back to Jihyo once a week. Mess up? And we’ll make it a daily repot.” Felix said, all business.

Jaehyun gave a little laugh, Felix did not appreciate it.

“I never thought I’d see this side of you, Lix.” Jaehyun said, voice softer, and Felix could almost remember the hyung he’d used to be. “You hate me, don’t you? Just like every other angel here.”

Felix hated that his heart tugged at the sadness in Jaehyun’s voice, but then he remembered Changbin, and all the hatred came pouring back.

“Then prove to me that you’re worth it.” Felix said, surprising himself as well as Jaehyun. “And maybe then—I’ll hate you a little less.”

~

Jeongin had been having nightmares. It had happened ever since Seungmin had died, and they came, every night without fail. Sometimes it was about Seungmin, and Jeongin being helpless to save him, always being a little bit too slow, or a little too far away to reach him in time.

Some of them were about Hyunjin. About the angel taunting him, leaving Jeongin because demons are disgusting, worthless creatures who only know how to kill. He’d blame Jeongin for Seungmin’s death in his dreams, crying and screaming that it was all Jeongin’s fault as Hyunjin held Seungmin’s bloody body in his arms.

Jeongin hated those the worst, because it combined everything he was scared of; being a killer, and losing everyone he loved, that everything was his fault.

And then there were the ones unlike any other dreams he’d had. Those dreams he could never quite remember in the morning, but according to Hyunjin, they were the ones he’d jolt awake to every time.

It seemed being in Hell only made those dreams worse, somehow—more real. Tonight, was no exception.

Jeongin found himself in an eerily familiar setting. Dead grass spread out beneath his feet, the sky was grey, in fact—everything was grey. An eerie, howling sound seemed to come from everywhere around him, shadows dancing around his vision.

It was District 9; he knew it was.

“But—I destroyed this place.” Jeongin spoke out to no one but himself. Or, at least he thought he was alone, until a figure materialized from the shadows a distance in front of him.

It was a lanky figure, his legs seemed disproportionately long compared to the rest of him, but the figure-oozed confidence, power. Jeongin took a step back on instinct.

“In a way, you did. Well, destroyed one of the portals to here, anyways.” The figure spoke. "One can't simply destroy all of Distritc 9." Jeongin squinted into the dark, trying but failing to make out more of the figure besides it’s legs.

“But the amount of _power_ you have, the _potential!”_ The figure gave an appreciative hiss, resting his chin in a hand. “Well, we could definitely work with that.”

Jeongin frowned at the still shadowed figure. The shadow wisps danced around them, they seemed to be laughing, much like they were the last time Jeongin had been there.

“Where are you, Jeongin?” The figure mused, stepping closer still, “It seems as though our connection is strong this time. Wait—don’t tell me,” The figure have a dramatic gasp, “You’re back in Hell!”

“I’m not in Hell. I’m in District 9.” Jeongin said, confused. Clearly this guy must know, he was here too. The figure chuckled in a patronizing sort of way.

“Ah, you still have a lot to learn, Jeongin. Sooner or later I will find you, and I will teach you the ways to your powers. Together, we'll be unstoppable.”

“Who are you?” Jeongin asked, fists clenching at his sides. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be back home, cuddled between Seungmin and Hyunjin, waking up to their sleepy, pillow-lined faces.

The figure laughed, “I’m a little hurt, I have to say. I thought you’d figure out who I was by now. This is the what, ninth time I’ve called you after all, Jeongin-ah?”

Jeongin didn’t like the way his name seemed to flow so easily off of the stranger’s tongue. Like he’d long known Jeongin, even if Jeongin didn’t know him.

Jeongin had a guess as to who it was—but he prayed he was wrong.

“L—” Jeongin started, in barely above a whisper. The shadowy wisps picked up in volume around them. Jeongin could feel them as they flew past his face.

“Come on, you can say it, don’t be shy.” The figure encouraged, though it seemed more like teasing.

Jeongin was starting to wake up. There was a light that came beaming down through their world shrouded in grey. The shadows screamed and hissed as the sunlight burned them away.

“ _Say it, say it_ ,” The shadows, along with the figure, repeated. The sun was becoming brighter, to the point Jeongin had to shield his own eyes.

“Lu—”

 _“Say it_! _”_ a particularly nasty hiss came right by Jeongin’s ear. The last thing he saw were gleaming red eyes in front of him, before waking up.

Jeongin bolted upright in bed, his chest heaving up and down. Hyunjin stirred at his side, letting out a soft groan at the disturbance.

Already, Jeongin was forgetting his dream. He frowned; eyebrows scrunched in frustration at why the _hell_ he couldn’t remember? A warm hand wrapped itself around his own.

“Innie, you okay?” Hyunjin muttered, trying hard and failing to open his eyes. Jeongin let out a long breath, dispelling his frustration to smile down at Hyunjin. The angel's sleepy bed hair was in a brown disarray around his head. Some strands poking up cutely, like he was a plant that needed watering.

“’M okay, Jinnie hyung.” Jeongin squeezed his hand back in reassurance. He didn’t doubt that the dream would come again. Maybe the next time it came, he’d remember. Though he had a sinking feeling that the longer it took him to remember, the worse the outcome would be.

On his other side, Seungmin had started to stir. The boy was still trying to get used to sleeping with wings. Jeongin joked that they needed a bigger bed now, with both his and Seungmin’s wings to account for.

Hyunjin had teased that Jeongin’s tiny bat wings hardly took up any space at all. Jeongin had proceeded to slap him with said tiny bat wings, of course all in good nature. 

Seungmin mumbled in his sleep, but the name sent ice shooting through Jeongin’s veins, enough to cool the Hellfire that burned within him. He couldn’t fathom why Seungmin had said it, clearly the boy was still asleep. A horrid thought that whoever was plaguing Jeongin’s dreams was now traveling into Seungmin’s crossed his mind, but he prayed to Heaven and Hell that he was wrong, because the name that Seungmin had muttered, was Lucifer’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //plot intensifies//
> 
> I've had God's Menu stuck on repeat in my head, every so often I'll just hear a "이게 우리 탕 탕 탕탕  
> DU DU DU DU DU DU--"


	3. Tuesday night cults

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jaehyun's first encounter with his charge definitely could have gone better, and Minsung set out to infiltrate a cult

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again with a longer chapter this week for you guys! Enjoy~
> 
> Cult vibes for this chapter is basically the beginning of Exo's MAMA mv when they're all shadily dressed in cloaks and arrange in a circle lol, I've been waiting years for this very opportunity  
> (Also some referenced Buzzfeed unsolved, sorry I couldn't resist)

“Channie Channie Channie hyung~” Changbin whined happily, poking the demon in his side repeatedly. Clearly Chan was trying to do work, apparently Jisung had done a good enough job at keeping the orders in bay—but he’d only done enough to push them back to when Chan was capable of continuing his duties. They were demons, after all, no one said they were all that helpful—and especially not _selfless._

For now, Changbin relished in the fact that he could go back to whole heartedly annoying the Hell (pun intended) out of his Channie hyung, and his hyung would take it happily (though secretly) because he was glad that Changbin was back.

As it was, the king was a lot more complacent with Changbin that he’d been before Changbin had been captured. (“Demon-napped,” as Minho liked to call it).

Chan didn’t even push him away as his poking continued, merely humming in fake disinterest at the younger. Changbin grinned manically.

“Ugh! Jesus, Bin, don’t smile like that, I’m having PTSD flash backs.” Jisung exclaimed as he walked into the room. He shielded his view of Changbin’s evil grin. A small pout quickly overtook Changbin’s face.

“It’s not my fault he chose to flaunt around wearing my—albeit fabulous—skin.” Changbin grumbled, “Trust me, I’d rather he have taken yours.”

That was a fat _lie_ , because there was no way Changbin would rather have Jisung endure what he’d been through. Changbin was glad it was him, because he wouldn’t have wished it upon even his worst enemies.

Okay—maybe his worst enemies. (Most definitely his worst enemies, like that conniving demon who always cheated at card games and said that his prize would be Changbin’s “hot new angel thang,” _he_ definitely deserved it).

Jisung seemed to understand Changbin was lying, they were always like that with each other; cold on the outside, soft on the inside. It was a demon curse, being tsundere.

“But if he took Jisung, then who would have been there to protect me?” Minho aimed his pout at Jisung.

Jisung scoffed, “Maybe you’d have had Binnie there to protect you.” Changbin sent him kissy faces while Minho scrunched his face is disgust.

“Bleh, and have him hum me horrible lullabies to sleep? No thank you.”

“Why, did Jisungie sing good night to you?” Changbin asked gleefully.

“No! I didn’t sing—I rapped.” Jisung winked and Changbin actually had the urge to kill himself for the _second_ time. A confident gay was always Changbin’s least favorite, he couldn’t tease them.

“What cha working on there, wang-nim?” Jisung asked, leaning over Chan’s shoulder to peer down at his papers.

Chan groaned, “The work you so graciously left behind for me.”

“You’re welcome!” Jisung said, proudly patting Chan’s shoulder.

“Actually—since you’re here, you can help me with this—”

“And that’s my cue to leave!” Jisung was about to whirl away but Chan was faster and caught his arm.

“I got a case about a problematic demon cult in the human realm.”

Jisung scoffed, “Demon cults? Hyung, you know they’re always a load of crap. Praying to “Satan” with their “virgin blood” and “skull of a rodent” and all that. “Satan” doesn’t even answer their calls. They’d be lucky if they got Joe from skull clean up.”

Chan rolled his eyes at Jisung’s theatrics. “Yes, usually that is the case, but this one—this one seems different. They’ve been taking human sacrifices every week for their—whatever it is cults do, but it seems to be _working_.”

“What do you mean?” Jisung asked, their curiosity instantly piqued at Chan’s words.

“Well, we’ve reported a high disturbance of demonic energy every week on Tuesday nights—”

Minho laughed, “Summoning demons, killing virgins, just your average Tuesday night with the bros!”

Changbin tried hard to suppress his impending laughter. He really loved that guy.

“As I was saying,” Chan continued with a pointed look at Minho, “The disturbance is more than any human satanic cult we’ve encountered so far. They must have gotten a higher-level demon to come through.”

“What kind of higher-level demon would want to work for a bunch of nutty humans?” Jisung asked incredulously.

“That’s what I need you to find out.” Chan said, a smile finally gracing his lips. “You can do that for me, right Sungie?”

Jisung grumbled out an unintelligible reply.

“And take Minho with you, it will be your first field mission.”

“I can go out on the field?” Minho exclaimed excitedly. Jisung shot a glare at Chan, knowing full well the king had said that on purpose. If Minho was on board, then that meant so was Jisung.

Changbin slow clapped at the king’s devious thinking, “Truly the King of Hell.” He breathed with dramatic awe.

“Yes Minho, you can go out on the field, but I want a full report when you two come back! Do everything by the book this time, Jisung!” Chan warned.

Jisung, though not happy, gave the king a plotting smile, “What book?”

~

Jaehyun was not happy, though he doubted he’d ever really be happy again. Not after what he’d done to his friends, those who’d trusted him.

He knew he’d broken their trust, in theory, but to him, it had been worth it. At least—it was supposed to have been worth it. The second he saw their distraught faces, the second he'd heard Hyunjin's scream when Seungmin died—that’s when he _knew_ he’d fucked up, enormously. It was a mistake Jaehyun probably wouldn’t ever be able to make up for fully, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try. The first step in redemption had been reviving Seungmin.

So what if it coincidentally ended up being that saving Seungmin also happened to give Jaehyun exactly what he’d wanted all along? A Nephilim.

Jaehyun won in the end, he supposed, but why didn't it feel like one?

Chan could barely meet his eyes the month they’d been trying to revive Seungmin. And on the rare occasion that he did, Jaehyun found himself looking away. The look that Chan gave him—filled with hurt, and anger, and something else that made Jaehyun’s heart twist—it was too much for the angel.

He never meant for Chan to hate him, that was the farthest from his intentions. Everything he had done had been _for_ Chan, for _them._ At least—so he’d thought. 

It took a lot of persuading for Chan to finally give in. It seemed saving a friend from the clutches of death was the right kind of motivation. The demon king had always been a little too soft of heart, and perhaps that would be his downfall, but Jaehyun loved him for it all the same.

A Nephilim had been born, and Jaehyun was sure it would solve the prejudice between angels and demons once and for all—somehow. But in the meantime, it seemed he’d have to deal with a blasted human to appease the angels.

Jaehyun knew all too well about what came with having a charge. He’d had a few of his own when he’d first started, but that had been centuries ago, and times were much different then than they were now.

 _A cop?_ Jaehyun thought to himself as Jihyo, once one of his most promising disciples who’d turned on him as well it would seem, steered him through the air towards the human’s apartment building. Her grip was firm on his arm, and he was made all too aware of the gleaming angel blade strapped to her side. Jihyo had already threatened to use it on him; twice.

Jaehyun himself, was weaponless. He thought it rather unfair.

“What am I supposed to protect this human with then? My charming personality?” Jaehyun had retorted to the “no weapons” ruling.

“You’re an angel, you’ll manage.” Had been his only reply.

Jihyo set them down on the roof none too gently, Jaehyun wretched his arm from her grip, rolling his shoulders agitatedly. Jihyo glared at him.

“Jeon Jungkook, your charge, lives in apartment 713. Once a week, I will come to you for a report. If you fail to comply, or we find out you’re doing something you shouldn’t, well, you can count on it not being pretty.” Jihyo’s angelic grin was not to be mistaken for what it actually was. Jaehyun sensed the amount of hostility emanating off of her.

He only gave the angel a curt nod before making his way over to the rooftop door. He didn’t have a choice after all, they’d clipped his wings, with a tracking device no doubt. Jaehyun scowled at what he had come to. He was the leader of angels for God’s sake, he was far above protecting a mere human.

He glared at the door of apartment number 713. He knocked with little restrained frustration against the door. After a minute, the door whipped open to reveal a disheveled guy with eye bags that took up half his face. He looked, well, horrible. Jaehyun reeled back in shock.

“Can I help you?” The human said, reaching not discretely for the gun at his side.

Jaehyun scoffed, “No need for that, human,” He said, overcoming from his shock to breeze past the guy into his apartment. The guy let out a disgruntled, “Hey!”

“I’m Jaehyun, I’m assigned to be your guardian angel for the time being, so if we could acquaint ourselves sooner rather than later, that would be best for both of us.” Jaehyun said with practiced disinterest.

The guy scoffed, “A guardian angel, huh? Whose wise idea was that?” He had his gun out now, aimed at Jaehyun in what was probably supposed to be a threatening manner, but the angel was hardly phased.

“Please, don’t insult me and put that little toy of yours away.” Jaehyun flicked the gun out the human’s hand with a wave of his fingers. The man’s eyes widened a fraction at the act.

“Considering you’re a cop, I’m sure you’re not living under a rock, you know guardian angels exist.”

“How did you know I was a cop?” The guy questioned coldly.

“Jeon Jungkook, born September 1, 1997. You were born in Busan, but you now live in Seoul. You have one younger sister who looks up to you, but you feel bad because you don’t want her to take in your footsteps, so you’ve pushed her away,”

“Stop,” The boy said, but Jaehyun was on a roll, his memory of the case file was outstanding, even though he’d only read it through once.

“Oh, and you’re also cursed. From the looks of it, I’d guess with bad looks and a somehow even worse attitude, but no one’s seems to know what exactly your curse is, or how you got it. Can you imagine? Not even the angel’s in Heaven know! I’m guessing you probably stay away from little Misuk for that reason too, no?”

“STOP IT!” The boy yelled, this time catching Jaehyun’s attention. He inwardly sighed, humans were so _sensitive_ —

“I get it, you’re a pompous, jackass angel who clearly thinks he’s better than me, and probably thinks he has better things to do with his time— “

“Exactly!” Jaehyun exclaimed, snapping in agreement, finally the human was getting it, “So if you could just show me to where I’ll be staying, we can both get—”

The human gave a humorless laugh, “You want to know where you can stay? Right outside on the curb next to the trash, where you belong.”

Jaehyun was stunned into silence. No one had ever spoken to him so rudely before. He couldn’t believe a _human_ , would speak to a divine being in such a way, no less.

“Excuse me, but I will not tolerate such defamation of myself.” Jaehyun said, voice chilling as his eyes glowed with blue heavenly light. The guy stepped back, though the irritatingly judging expression was ever present on his face.

“Especially not by a mere _human_.” Jaehyun spat, eyes glowing brighter at his growing anger. The human shielded himself when Jaehyun’s brightness hit a peak, but what should have been a glorious display of angelic power, ended up in a backlash so strong, it knocked the breath out of Jaehyun, his head feeling as if it had exploded, and the angel went careening to the floor, knocked out cold.

~

“So, Chan said the demon cult meets on Tuesday nights.” Jisung said after he and Minho had teleported back to the human realm.

“Yeah,” Minho replied, not knowing where he was going with that. Minho poked his head out of the shady alleyway. Only a few people were walking past, and no one paid any attention to the two boys who just materialized out of thin air.

“And it’s only 6.” Jisung continued, Minho turned to look at him questioningly.

“Yeah?”

Jisung rolled his eyes, _“So_ _that means,_ we have a few hours to kill before we have to go undercover! Let’s go on a date.”

“A d—date?” Minho sputtered, not in a million years did he think that was where this conversation was going. Jisung only grinned at him, grabbing ahold of Minho’s hand.

“What better place to have a date than the human realm? In the realm of love and—friskiness.” Jisung said shimmying his shoulders for effect.

“I don’t think that’s—” but Minho was already being dragged off by an excited Jisung. And thus, began their dating montage.

They rented bikes to bike near the Han River, but Jisung had no idea how to ride a bike, so they ended up on a tandem bike (much to Minho’s utter dismay) with Minho doing all the work as Jisung sat idly in the back enjoying the ride.

After, they stumbled across an arcade, where Minho totally crushed Jisung at Dance Dance Revolution. Jisung then insisted on playing a Japanese drum game, so Minho relented, but they’d accidently tapped the wrong level since neither of them could read Japanese, and scream-banged the drums when they couldn’t keep up with the lightning-speed rhythm.

After the arcade, Jisung dragged Minho to a café and ordered them a pink smoothie with his fake demon money. Minho looked confusedly at Jisung when he only brought one smoothie back to the table, but when he was about to ask where his was, Jisung proudly flourished two straws from behind his back. Minho died a little on the inside from embarrassment, while Jisung happily sipped not 5 centimeters away from Minho’s own face.

Before they knew it, nighttime had finally come, and they’d navigated their way to the area Chan said the demonic energy was coming from.

They came across a rather dilapidated building, looking like it was on the brink of collapse and had probably been for decades. It looked like it had been engulfed by a house fire. Perhaps it had, as it’s blackened exterior looked moment away from disintegrating altogether.

Minho wondered why no one had bought or renovated the building since all the other buildings surrounding it looked pretty well maintained. Though he guessed the fact that satanic rituals were happening deep within its walls might be the reason.

Jisung went to knock on the door, Minho’s eyes widened and he caught Jisung’s hand before it could make contact.

“What are you doing?” He asked frantically.

“I’m knocking?” Jisung said like, _“duh.”_

“You can’t just—knock on the door for a satanic cult!” Minho exclaimed.

“Why not? I may be a demon, but I’m not _rude_.” Jisung snapped back.

“I don’t know if I’d go _that_ far…” Minho muttered. Jisung chose to ignore him, and knocked on the door anyways, which squeaked open at his touch.

“That’s just great, my life really is just a cliché horror movie.” Minho sighed. Jisung shrugged, stepping his way into the dark building.

“Hello?” Jisung called out, Minho wanted to face palm.

“Rule number one of horror movies, you _never_ say “hello” into a dark empty room!” Minho whined out.

For once Minho was grateful his demonic eyesight made the dark space seem not so dark. He could clearly see the hanging ceiling tiles and wires that poked out from above. The doors were all opened, some barely hanging on its hinges. There were hundreds of spiderwebs; spiderwebs that had caught _other_ spiderwebs. He was pretty sure he saw a small rodent skittering across the floor in front of them.

On second thought—maybe night vision was a curse.

“We saw your ad online?” Jisung continued to say into the emptiness as he made his way further into the building.

“We _what_?” Minho whispered angrily back.

“We’re here for the cult stuff?” Jisung added, raising his eyebrows at Minho like _“this might work.”_ Minho looked at him judgingly.

“Really Jisung?” Minho said, but a dark cloaked figure suddenly appeared in the doorway right in front of them. Minho definitely did _not_ let out a squeak of surprise, and he most definitely did _not_ shield himself behind a tiny Jisung.

The guy in the dark robes peered at them with narrowed eyes, sizing up Jisung and Minho as they both stared back at him. Eventually the guy turned behind him.

“Hey Yeol! They saw your ad online!” The guy yelled into the darkness behind him.

“Hell yeah! And you said it was stupid!” A distance voice yelled back.

“Erm—” Jisung started, but the man beckoned them in. They followed the man down a flight of stairs that lead to a basement. Of course, like any good horror movie, satanic rituals always took place in the basement—or the attic. Minho was just glad we wouldn’t have to climb several flights of rotting wooden stairs.

“Thank fuck you guys saw our ad, you know how hard it is to get willing sacrifices?” The man laughed out, like he thought the mere idea of no one wanting to sacrifice yourself was absurd.

“Hold up, sacrifices?” Jisung questioned. They’d finally arrived in an open, dingy room. Water was leaking from the ceiling, and there was a distinct smell of mold and something else even less pleasant, kind of like—rotting eggs? Not only they worshiped the devil, but they were also bad cooks?

Minho wrinkled his nose in disgust. These guys were going to get themselves killed just by hanging out in the basement, all demonic activities aside.

“Yeah, not a lot of virgins nowadays, apparently.” The man said grudgingly, waving them towards a pentagram on the floor where candles were lit at each point. There were perhaps ten or so other people also dressed in dark robes standing around the pentagram. They looked up when Jisung and Minho entered.

“So, if you guys could just strip and stand in the middle of the pentagram. We’ll made your deaths quick.” The man said like he was instructing something as simple as making grilled cheese. (Though based on the rotten egg smell, Minho guessed that wasn’t such an easy task for the cultists). 

“Whoa whoa whoa—we’re not here to be sacrifices.” Jisung clarified. The man gave a huff of annoyance. “We want in.” Jisung said with a mischievous smile.

“Well, that’s just great.” The man said, flinging his arms up in exasperation, “They’re not sacrifices after all!” He relayed to the rest of his group. They all let out little groans and sighs of disappointment.

“You had one job, Chanyeol. One. Job.” The man said raising an accusing finger at one of the other humans who had his arms raised in surrender.

“Well, good thing we’re prepared.” The man said with a maniac grin before he clapped his hands. Two other humans dressed in black cloaks came out of nowhere, dragging a limp, and very naked girl between them.

“You two want to be a part of this cult?” The man turned to them, a sadistic glint in his eyes.

Jisung nodded, “Yeah, we’re new in town, and our old cult didn’t want to relocate so, we had to find a new one.” Jisung said breezily with a shrug like _“cults, what cha gonna do?”_

“Great, then put these on.” The man grabbed two extra cloaks off a side table before throwing it at them. Minho wondered what had to have happened that they’d have extras.

The two men holding the girl between them dropped her unceremoniously into the center of the pentagram. The girl didn’t so much as flinch, she must have been drugged or—something.

“Jisung!” Minho whisper yelled, “Shouldn’t we do something? They’re going to kill her!”

Jisung had already donned the black cloak, which was a far too big for him so the hood hung long over his face and Minho couldn’t make out his expression. Before they could even do anything, a sickening slicing sound came from the pentagram.

It was too late; they’d already slit the girls throat. Minho thought he might be sick as he watched the blood pour out around her, seeming to form perfect straight lines.

The humans started to chant around them, the candles started to flicker at their points. Jisung reached out to grip Minho’s arm.

“Chan was right, this power—they’re not amateurs, Min. Even though they seem like they are.” The two were standing back from it all, there more to observe than anything. The candles went out when their chanting reached a climax, before relighting again, one by one in a way that was purely demonic.

A new presence entered the room, and Minho could feel the power radiating off of them. The humans around the pentagram dropped into floor bows, so Jisung and Minho quickly followed suit.

“Oh unholy Lucifer, we give ourselves unto thee,” the humans chanted as one. Jisung’s head whipped up at the words, his hood falling back consequentially.

“Lucifer?” He breathed. Minho’s blood ran cold, they both looked up at the figure that stood in the pentagram. A smiling man stood in the center, though his smile was anything but kind. He was dressed in a nice button down and slacks, looking like he’d just gotten off of his desk job. His dark bangs drooped over into his eyes, making him look not much older than 30. Though no matter how young he looked, there was no mistaking the power that radiated off of him in waves. It was overwhelming Minho’s senses.

“Oh fuck,” Jisung breathed, quickly looking down again so his hood went back to covering his face. His hand found Minho’s on the damp cement floor, and he gripped it tightly. Minho was grateful for his touch.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite mortals.” Lucifer said with a voice like pulling molasses. It was somehow soothing yet irking at the same time.

“Oh great unholy Lucifer, we hope you will accept our weekly sacrifice.” The man who’d been talking to them earlier said. He seemed to be their leader.

“Of course, Seho,”

“I—it’s Suho—” the man squeaked but was completely ignored by Lucifer.

“I always enjoy my Tuesday night virgins.” Lucifer continued, talking like he was about to enjoy a nice cocktail. He crouched down to drag a finger through the blood still pooling from the girl’s neck, licking the blood clean off his finger with a satisfied hum.

“Did you do what I asked of you?” Lucifer asked, the tension in the room rose tenfold.

“Err—well, we tried but—”

 _“Tried?”_ Lucifer repeated threateningly. “Do not tell me you failed this week as well.”

“We couldn’t find—” Suho started, but didn’t get a chance to finish. The candles of the pentagram flickered and glowing golden lines that crisscrossed beneath them suddenly emanated from underneath the ground. Jisung inhaled sharply next to Minho.

“Seho, I think you know what happens when you don’t meet my demands.” Lucifer said in a pout, like he was talking to a toddler that had disappointed him. Suho was standing now, the only one amongst a sea of black cloaks. Minho caught the expression of one of the other humans, who was looking at Suho with a pitying look, though perhaps not without a hint of sadism.

Lucifer beckoned Suho towards him, the human hesitantly stepped forward. Lucifer sighed, beckoning with more fervor, and the human scrambled to comply, stepping into the pentagram with Lucifer.

Lucifer gave him a mock pitying smile before he placed his hand over the human’s forehead. There was a horrible shriek from the man before his empty cloak slumped to the floor.

Lucifer sighed, brushing his hands clean. “You.” He said, pointing to the man that Suho had pointed to earlier, _Yeol_ , was it?

“You’re now in charge. And by next week, you better have what I want, or you’ll be next.” Lucifer’s eyes sparked of Hellfire in a way that was shockingly familiar to Minho, though he couldn’t fathom why.

“Oh, and don’t bother trying to run away, I’ll find you. I am the—what is it you all call me? The Great Unholy Lucifer, after all.” Lucifer chuckled. Minho felt a heavy gaze land on him, but he didn’t dare look up, fearing what he’d see if he did. His heart was pounding in his chest, Lucifer couldn’t know they were there, right? Lucifer didn’t even know who they were—right?

At once, the candles as well as the golden lines that crisscrossed the floor lost their glow in one fell swoop, leaving the room enshrouded in darkness. Jisung stood up abruptly, dragging Minho up with him.

“We have to tell Chan.” Jisung said with urgency. Minho numbly nodded, following Jisung back up the stairs. The last thing he heard before they completely left the premises was from the cult’s newly appointed leader as he muttered numbly,

“I’m gonna have to make more ads.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	4. He's a... keeper?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Felix is reminded of an old promise, and Minsung debrief their cult experience in Hell

The next time Felix met up with Changbin, it was in the human realm. Though being in the human realm reminded Felix of Jaehyun. Somewhere out there, the angel was with his charge. It made Felix anxious to see how they were doing. Thankfully, the angel wouldn’t be able to harm his charge in anyway due to their guardian contact, but still, Felix was a little anxious just having the angel out and about on his own.

Who knew what Jaehyun was thinking? Hell, he could even be plotting something at that very moment. 

Felix shook the thought out of his head. He smiled warmly when the bell to the café rang, and Changbin walked in. The same little tan dog as always barked and ran up to Changbin instantly, tail wagging happily behind her.

 _Get in line, buddy._ Felix thought to the dog as Changbin crouched down to coo and scratching behind her ears. Felix pursed his lips at the sight. Changbin looked up then, catching Felix’s expression, and laughed at the angel.

“Do you want me to pet you too, Lix?” Changbin asked cheekily as he took the seat across from Felix, eyeing and a golden lab that was seated loyally by Felix’s side.

“I won’t mind some petting.” Felix smiled boldly back, but he caught wind of one of the human’s thoughts at the table next to them, and his smile faltered.

Sometimes, it seemed humans were just as bad as angel and demons when it came to love. Just, instead of species stigma—it was gender. To angels and demons, gender didn’t matter much, not when they had much more pertinent matters such as the powers of Heaven and Hell to deal with.

Besides, angels and demons were simply the gender they were because it was what they were comfortable with. They could just as easily change into the opposite if they wanted to. Felix wondered briefly what Changbin would look like as a girl.

 _He’d still be so cute, of course._ At the thought alone, Felix’s smile had returned full force. An even tinier, longhaired Changbinnie—Felix could get behind that too.

Changbin blushed, “You’re staring again.”

“Why, I can’t stare at my boyfriend?” Felix asked, only a little louder than necessary so the guy sitting at the table over would hear him. He gave a stink eye to Felix, who smiled innocently back. Angels tended to give off the halo effect, and it was no different for this guy, who’s eyes widened at the sight and quickly shuffled out of the café.

“What was that about?” Changbin arched an amused eyebrow at Felix who shrugged.

“Just doing a normal day’s work of a mind reading angel.” He was about to change the subject—when a figure standing outside the café window caught his eye, staring right back at him.

Felix’s eyes widened as he stood up abruptly. He’d seen him before, but had completely forgotten about the keeper if he were being honest. Felix’s hand raised to the jade necklace he wore around his neck. It had become something of a fixture for Felix, to the point he’d forgotten he was even wearing it.

“Lix, what is it?” Changbin asked warily, already on high alert.

What was it that the keeper had said? Felix had been supposed to do something—but he couldn’t remember _what_.

“N—nothing. It’s fine I just—do you see that guy?” Felix asked Changbin, pointing out the café window. Changbin twisted in his seat to look and nodded.

“Who—who is that?” Changbin gulped nervously. He wasn’t very good with strangers anymore, Felix had noted. Always extremely jumpy and weary when new people were around.

“He’s a Keeper.” Felix said seriously.

Changbin turned back to him, “I thought I was a keeper?” He pouted.

Felix was momentarily brought out of his daze as he laughed at Changbin, “Not like that Binnie, he’s a _Keeper_ , of time.”

Changbin’s eyes widened at that, twisting back around to see the guy. The Keeper of Time smiled at them peacefully, before making his way around the side of the building.

“I think he wants us to follow him.” Changbin pointed out.

Felix sighed, “That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Why?” Changbin asked as he followed Felix out of the dog café.

“He asked something of me the last time we met.” Felix tried to quickly explain to Changbin, “Before I was able to find you, but—I can’t remember what.”

Changbin didn’t say anything, only following behind as they turned into the side alley. The keeper had his back to them, but he turned around once they’d entered the alley.

“Felix, long time no see.” The keeper said. Felix gulped at the line, _“Lixie, long time no see”_ echoed around in his head, but he brushed Jaehyun's unwarranted voice away.

“Right, sorry about keeping your necklace. I kind of—forgot about it. You know, with everything going on.” Felix untied the necklace from around his neck, holding it out for Namjoon to take, but Namjoon held his hands up to stop him.

“You’re giving that to the wrong person, Felix.” He said, eyes landing on Changbin. Felix froze.

“What—what do you mean?” Felix asked, confused.

“Me?” Changbin pointed at himself bewildered. Namjoon turned his smiled onto him.

“You must have forgotten what I’d asked of you.” Namjoon said to Felix, small smile on his face.

Felix sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, “Sorry about that—”

“No need, it’s quite ok. But I will need Changbin now.”

And just like that, the words the keeper had spoken months ago came back to Felix, “ _Bring me the prisoner who does not belong.”_

Felix’s hand shot out to grip Changbin’s wrist on reflex. “What do you mean you need him?”

“You see, I need him to go back in time for me.” Namjoon said plainly.

“Me? Why me?” Changbin asked, Felix tightened his grip on his wrist.

“It has to be you Changbin, you’re a soft demon, and Seokjin likes the soft ones.” Namjoon said, smiling. His placating expression was starting to annoy Felix just a bit.

“A soft demon?” Changbin muttered in offense, “I’m not a soft demon.”

“Well, he’s not exactly wrong—” Felix couldn’t help but agree.

Changbin shot him a look. “Whose side are you on?”

“Who’s Seokjin?” Felix ignored Changbin to ask Namjoon. The keeper had gotten a wistful glint in his eyes.

“The Keeper of Space.”

Both Felix and Changbin’s jaws dropped.

“The space-time continuum.” Changbin breathed.

“I need you to deliver him a message.” Namjoon said to Changbin. “And it has to be you who goes back to see him, because you also already have an attachment to the place.”

“I—what?” Changbin questioned but Felix took over.

“He’s not going without me.” Felix said determinedly, he wasn’t going to let Changbin out of his sight again, especially _not_ to _time travel_. Who knows what could go wrong?

Namjoon gave him a knowing look. “I knew you would say that.”

“Well of course he did he’s the Keeper of Time.” Changbin said under his breath. Namjoon laughed.

“Very well, you can accompany him back in time, but be warned, Felix—mess with his fate, and he might not be here when you return.” Namjoon’s smiled had vanished, replaced with a grave seriousness that made Felix gulp. He nodded in understanding.

“We won’t be gone for long, right?” Felix asked the keeper, suddenly aware that he was neglecting his duties as stand-in leader of angels to go back in time with Changbin. Not that he’d have it any other way. There was no way Changbin was leaving without him. Not again. _Never_ again.

“As long as it will take you to find Seokjin and deliver him this message.” Namjoon waved a hand before him, and a letter materialized out of thin air. The envelope looked aged, like it had been sitting around for quite some time, perhaps it had been.

“How will we find him?” Changbin asked, taking the letter from the air as it floated over to him.

“The Keepers were not as unknown in the past as you may think. All you must to do find him, is to ask.” Namjoon said, he gestured for the necklace. Felix handed it over without a word.

Namjoon covered the jade pendant in his hands, eyes closing as a green light emanated from between his hands. When he opened his eyes again, they were the same gleaming shade of jade green.

“There you go, quickly, before the time stamp wears off.” Namjoon said, dropping the necklace into Felix’s hands.

“Remember, don’t try to change your fate.” Namjoon said, leveling both the angel and the demon with a gaze to make sure they both understood.

“Got it, no messing with fate.” Felix said.

“You’ll also need to be together if you both want to return.” Namjoon said.

“Don’t worry,” Felix said, taking Changbin’s hand in his, “I won’t let him out of my sight.”

With that, the two vanished from the alleyway in a flash of green light.

Namjoon upturned his face to the sky, eyes falling closed with a small smile. “See you soon, my dear friend.”

~

“You had another one of those nightmares again, didn’t you?” Hyunjin asked, once they were all awake and on their way back to see Chan. Jeongin ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, well,”

“You’re having nightmares?” Seungmin frowned, looking over at Jeongin. The demon was walking rather briskly through the lamp lit hallways of Hell.

“It’s nothing, Seungie, really. I’m fine.” Jeongin gave a little side smile as he shrugged, pushing open the doors to Chan’s giant office.

“Nightmares aren’t fine, In. That’s why they’re called nightmares.” Hyunjin pointed out, “I can try to send you some good dreams again?” He offered. He’d done so before, when Jeongin had woken up crying and clinging to Hyunjin like his life depended on it. Hyunjin had pressed warm hands against his forehead, and Jeongin had fallen blissfully back to sleep with no new nightmares plaguing his mind.

Though it only ever lasted one night.

Jeongin mulled over the offer, before eventually nodding in acceptance. Hyunjin smiled, reaching a hand up to pat Jeongin’s head. The boy leaned into the touch, purring.

“Who’s our good demon cat?” Hyunjin cooed. Jeongin scrunched his face at that, batting Hyunjin’s hand away. 

“You made it!” Chan exclaimed, though his look of relief gave way to worry, “No one noticed anything, right?”

Jeongin shook his head, “No hyung, no one noticed we’re harboring a legendary creature in Hell.”

“Hey.” Seungmin pouted, probably not happy at being called a “creature.”

Chan sighed in relief, before he smacked Jeongin in the back of his head for his sassy attitude. “I liked you better when you would play in the Hellfires.” Chan muttered, but there was no malice in his voice.

“Likewise.” Jeongin said, before he realized it was sort of a self-burn. Oh well, he did kind of miss the olden days of—four-ish months ago. Those were some good times. Not a care in the world, no bat wings or fire to control. Just Jeongin, his hyungs, and party times in the Hellfire.

“Seungmin, how are you feeling?” Chan asked, eyebrows scrunching in concern at the boy.

Seungmin waved a hand dismissively, “No different than yesterday when you asked.”

“We’re going to need to monitor you, and your powers. Like Jeongin so _nicely_ said, Nephilim are kind of a legend in our realm. Which says a lot considering we’re a bunch of demons and angels.” Chan added, his wings idly moving behind him. 

“We need to see what you’re capable of—but we also can’t risk raising any attention. You need to be kept a secret, or the precarious balance of Heaven and Hell could be ruined.”

“Sure, no pressure or anything.” Seungmin quipped, he sighed.

“It’s okay Seungminnie, we’ll make sure you’re well hidden.” Hyunjin said with purpose. Rubbing a comforting hand along his back. Seungmin’s wings twitched involuntarily.

“For now, I’ll set a barrier around this room, so no one will be able to detect anything from the outside.” Chan said, but just as he was about to do so, hand already poised in the air, two black cloaked figures dropped into the room.

“What the—”

“Hyung!” Jisung’s voice came, the boy was desperately trying to shove the oversized hood off of his head. The second hooded cloak—probably Minho—took pity on the demon and pushed it back for him.

“Hyung!” Jisung exclaimed again, hair sticking up from the static, eyes wild.

“Whoa—are you okay?” Hyunjin asked, half concerned, half amused at the sight.

“Why are you dressed in ugly bathrobes?” Jeongin asked, reaching out to touch the material.

“We found the cult, like you said. And—well it’s not good. You were right, they are powerful, but it’s not just _any_ higher-level demon they’re summoning,” Jisung said, eyes alight with urgency. Jeongin didn’t miss the quick glance Jisung shot his way.

Chan’s ink black complexion paled to grey. “Oh no.” He said.

“And that’s not all—” Jisung started.

“They killed a girl!” Minho interjected, sounding personally offended. Hyunjin and Seungmin were the only ones to gasp, the demons in the room remained unfazed.

“The building you sent us to,” Jisung trudged on, “It’s on crossroads, where the ley lines converge.”

Jeongin’s eyes grew wide. He knew the amount of power a convergence of ley lines could give a place. And this was a human satanic cult? Just who were these humans summoning?

“Please don’t tell me the demon they’re summoning is who I think it is.” Chan breathed, rubbing at his temples. No one spoke, which seemed answer enough to Chan.

“Did he see you?” Chan asked, worried eyes flickering between Minho and Jisung.

Jisung started to say “no” the same time Minho said “yes.” Jisung whipped around to Minho.

“What? You _didn’t_ feel his gaze earlier? I’m 99% sure it was directed towards us.” Minho said defensively.

“That’s not good, this is _not_ good.” Chan muttered.

“Oh—and that’s not all.” Jisung spoke again.

“This is starting to sound like an infomercial from Hell. Oh wait—” Seungmin said, a finger poised in realization.

“What could possibly make it worse?” Jeongin asked with a naively optimistic smile.

“He’s _looking for something_.” Jisung hissed out.

Chan’s complexion paled further to a lighter grey. Jeongin was readying himself to run and catch the king in case he fainted. He’d never seen Chan quite so pale.

“Perhaps—being in Hell right now isn’t the safest place for you guys after all.” Chan eventually said, “If what you’re saying is true—”

“Oh, it is.” Jisung confirmed. 

“Then he’s even more powerful in Hell.”

“Who is?” Seungmin spoke up, sounding clearly exasperated at being left in the dark. The ones who knew all looked at each other. Jeongin had a sinking feeling that he already knew as well. It seemed everything in Jeongin’s life lately was revolving around him. He couldn’t go two steps without being reminded of—

“Lucifer.” Jisung said gravely, the energy instantly sucked out of the room.

“Aren’t you the King of Hell? Can’t you do something about it?” Seungmin asked, the boy really had no filter.

“I may be the king, but it’s more of a—political term. I’m by no means the most powerful demon in Hell. I’m just the one who deals with the technicalities of everything.”

“He’s the brains, not the bronze.” Jisung simplified at Seungmin’s confused stare.

“Ah.” Seungmin said.

“There are seven Princes of Hell, they’re the ones who really have power.” 

“Seven?” Seungmin squeaked.

“Ever heard of the seven deadly sins? Well, the princes are those—personified.” Jisung explained. “Lucifer is—”

“Ooo let me guess!” Minho interjected, hand shooting into the air, “He’s envy!”

“No, that’s Leviathan.” Jeongin corrected. “Lucifer is pride.”

“My brain hurts.” Seungmin lamented.

“It’s all things you learn in Demon History 101, which both of you should take, by the way.” Chan said, pointing at Seungmin and Minho meaningfully. “But for now, the shortened version is that the seven princes are the demons with the most power in Hell—”

“Are you’re just their bitch.” Jisung finished smugly. Chan shot him a death glare. Jisung recoiled slightly, mumbling a small apology.

“My point _being_ ,” Chan’s voice sounded strained, “Hell was never the safest place for anyone other than demons to begin with, but if Lucifer is stirring up trouble with the humans, then Hell’s about to get a whole lot worse.”

“But if he’s making humans do his dirty work, doesn’t that mean whatever he’s looking for, he’s expecting it to be in the human realm?” Jisung pointed out.

“Then I’ll take Seungmin up to Heaven.” Hyunjin said with purpose.

“No!” Chan and Jeongin both said, though Jeongin’s was a little shriller.

“You can’t leave me.” Jeongin pleaded, voice barely above a whisper, hoping only Hyunjin and Seungmin would hear. He griped on to Hyunjin’s hands. “Please, I—I need you guys. I can’t be alone.”

Hyunjin looked at Jeongin, torn. “I’d take you with me Innie, you know I would,” He started, voice filled with emotion.

“Why can’t we take him with? I don’t want to leave Innie behind.” Seungmin argued, siding with Jeongin. The demon smiled in relief at the boy, he knew Seungmin was his favorite.

“The truth of the matter, is that Seungmin is not safe in neither Heaven nor Hell.” Chan said with a sigh. “You can’t expose him to the angels. We can’t expose Seungmin to _anyone_. Heaven’s smaller than Hell is, they’d be bound to notice him.” Chan explained.

Clearly this was proving to be more of a challenge than Chan had thought. Jeongin wondered fleetingly if he blamed Jaehyun for changing Seungie, for making the balance of Heaven and Hell even more precarious that it already was, if Chan blamed himself—or if he still loved the angel, even after everything Jaehyun had done.

Jeongin would never blame Chan for it, to him it would always be Jaehyun's fault. _Everything_ was Jaehyun's fault.

Jeongin bristled in anger at the thought, Seungmin reached out to pat away the flames that had started to unconsciously lick across his blue skin.

“So, what do you suggest then, King of Hell?” Hyunjin asked sardonically. Clearly, he was starting to get frustrated too.

“Take him to the human realm, for now.”

“I swear to god,” Hyunjin said tilting his head back, “That’s what I suggested in the first place!”

“Now is not time for “I told you so’s,”” Chan bit back. “Just—go to the human realm, lay low, until we figure out what Lucifer is doing with the cult. But absolutely _no_ , _magic_ , got it?” Chan leveled the three with a stare. Hyunjin seemed about to protest but Chan cut him off.

“The human realm is only safer because you can pretend to be humans there, but if you so much as put out an ounce of magic into the realm—it will be noticeable, and trackable. Especially if Lucifer is having humans out there looking for something—or someone.”

Hyunjin didn’t look all on board with the no magic idea, but he nodded anyways. He seemed about to flash out when Chan called for Jeongin to come over to him.

“Innie,” he started when Jeongin got within whisper range, “You’re okay, right? There’s nothing—strange happening with you?”

Jeongin’s mind immediately went to his nightmares, but he hid his unease with a scoff. “Asides from the normal strangeness of being a fire breathing demon cat? No hyung, not much else could get any stranger.”

Chan breathed out a sigh of relief, smiling as he affectionately patted Jeongin’s head. Jeongin tried hard to resist the temptation of a good petting, but he caved in the end, purring as he butted further into Chan’s hand.

“But the moment something happens, you come straight to me, got it?” Chan said, not giving room for any argument. Jeongin saluted at him.

“Got it boss, anything happens, and I’ll go straight to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We goin' BACK !!  
> I'm excited bros 😎
> 
> (Also anyone watch Changbin on masked singer?!???!?? I will never shut up about it just-- w a w)


	5. A guardian's lament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jaehyun and Jungkook strike a deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally gonna be a ginormous chapter, but I decided to cut them in half because the 2 parts weren't necessarily related, so for this part -- enjoy some reluctant (kind douchy ngl) guardian angel Jaehyun ^^

Jaehyun woke up groggily. He felt like his limbs had been blasted by dynamite. Perhaps they had been, maybe his charge wasn’t so innocent after all.

His eyes shot open when he remembered the events leading up to that moment, meeting his charge, Jaehyun’s anger, and then—nothing.

“I’d say I’m glad to see you up, but that would be a lie.” A voice said. Jaehyun turned to see his charge stepping out of a room, closing the door firmly behind him. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and looked—nothing like he had yesterday.

This boy was clean-shaven, hair neatly combed so his dark bangs fell over his forehead. Instead of the rags of yesterday, he was nicely dressed in a jean jacket and black pants, with a pair of heavy looking black boots on his feet. Jaehyun could only stare, _surly it’s not the same guy._

“Don’t bother trying to get free, by the way.” The boy said, making his way over to the front door. Jaehyun followed his movements, jerking his hands experimentally only to find he was seated on a chair, handcuffed to a metal pipe.

Jaehyun’s eyes narrowed, “You—”

“Just—stay here, and don’t do anything. I’ll deal with you when I get back.” The human said before slamming the door shut in Jaehyun’s face.

Jaehyun could only stare open mouthed at the spot the human once was before he let out an incredulous laugh.

“Who the Hell does he think he is?” Jaehyun cursed, doubling his efforts to get free. They were just handcuffs after all, surely an angel was stronger than them, but it almost seemed the more he struggled, the less energy he had.

Jaehyun stopped struggling abruptly, twisting around in the chair to get a better look. His demeanor paled at the sight.

The bastard had engraved Enochian sigils into the handcuffs. Jaehyun felt a weird mix of dread and respect as he examined his situation. Clearly the boy wasn’t as innocent as he’d seemed. Jaehyun found himself wondering again just what the guys curse was.

Because of the sigils, Jaehyun really didn’t have much else to do but sit there lest he wanted to pass out again. And that was not an option, considering the last time he passed out was what got him into this situation.

It seemed like hours that the human was gone, even for an angel that had lived over a century. Jaehyun was getting tired taking inventory of every single item he could see in the guy’s house.

There was a single couch, a table covered in papers, dirty mugs and glasses scattered on almost every available surface, a TV in one corner, but it looked to be covered in a thick coat of dust, and only one picture frame that Jaehyun could see, it looked to be a younger version of the human and a little girl.

 _Must be his sister._ Jaehyun mused. He seemed to strike a chord in the human the other day when he’d mentioned his sister. Jaehyun hadn’t thought too much about it at the time, but now that he had nothing else to do, it didn’t seem to want to leave his mind.

Why were human’s so touchy? You mention one estranged family member and suddenly it’s like you just drank out of the Fountain of Heavenly Light; frowned down upon, and heavily judged for.

It wasn’t until the sun had nearly set that the front door rattled. Jaehyun sat upright from his slumped position staring up at nothing. He wanted to be ready in case the guy attacked.

The human peeked around the door as he jangled his keys out of the keyhole, eyes instantly meeting Jaehyun’s.

“Good, you didn’t wreck the place while I was gone.” He said, kicking the door shut with his boot.

“You made it rather difficult for me to do that, didn’t you?” Jaehyun simmered, rattling his handcuffs for emphasis. “Where did you even learn Enochian sigils?”

The human shrugged off his backpack, taking out a folder to dump even more papers across the already paper-filled table.

Jaehyun sighed, “Look, it’s clear neither of us really wants the other to be here, but whether we like it or not, I can’t leave. Once we have a contract with a human, we can’t leave.”

The human shot a wary looked over at Jaehyun, “Ever?” He asked, suddenly seeming unsure.

Jaehyun lifted a corner of his mouth in a mock smile, “Until Heaven deems the contract was fulfilled. Which, I can assure, you, won’t be any time soon.”

Jaehyun huffed. The angels wouldn’t make this easy for him. They all hated him, and for what? Trying to ease the prejudice between angels and demons? Jaehyun had created a Nephilim for crying out loud! He should be out there making their world better, not shackled (quite literally) to a human charge!

He wondered how their resident Nephilim was doing. Chan had left in quite a frenzy when they’d woken up and found Seungmin had disappeared, saying that Seungmin couldn’t be out in the world on his own.

Jaehyun didn’t really see what the big deal was, the more people knew there was a Nephilim, the better. That had been his whole point of creating one in the first place.

Though nothing turned out quite as Jaehyun had expected, did it?

No doubt Chan was making the kid go into hiding. The demon king was always too careful.

“Hmm,” The human hummed in thought, dragging Jaehyun back to the present.

“So now that we’ve established I can’t hurt you, why don’t you let me go? And tell me how you know about Enochian sigils?” Jaehyun suggested, trying to keep his voice level.

The human’s eyes narrowed in distrust. After at least three minutes of silence, he finally gave in.

“Fine.” He said, briskly walking over to unlock the handcuffs around Jaehyun’s wrists.

“Finally.” Jaehyun snapped, bringing his wrists in front of him to rub at them. In reality, they didn’t hurt, and any injuries would be healed soon enough, but he wanted the human to feel guilty for what he had done.

It didn’t seem to work. The boy didn’t even spare him a glance as he made his way back to the table. Jaehyun glowered as he walked over.

“Human, what is this?” He asked, eyes taking in the various pictures of pentagrams and human faces smiling up at him. The boy shot him a look.

“If we’re going to try and get along, then rule number one: don’t call me that.” The human said.

Jaehyun scoffed. “Well you are, aren’t you?”

“Might that I be, the way you say it is clearly condescending and meant to be an insult.”

 _You got me there,_ Jaehyun thought, giving a mock grin as he raised his hands in surrender.

“So—what are these?” Jaehyun asked again.

“A case I’m working on.” The boy said. Jaehyun waited for him to say more—but he didn’t.

“You’re working on a case involving demon summoning pentagrams?” Jaehyun supplied, reaching down to lift one of the pictures up. It was a summoning ritual alright, the way the pentagram was drawn in what appeared to be salt, and the candles placed at each point.

The boy only grunted in response.

“Wow, sure would be nice to have an angel around, wouldn’t it? Maybe they would know something about this.” Jaehyun said sarcastically, waiting for the boy to bite. He never did.

Jaehyun sighed in exasperation, pulling out a chair to sit on. “Fine then. Don’t use my help. These photos are of missing people, right?” Jaehyun said, pointing to the smiling faces, “Sure, don’t use the angel’s help. Let more humans die.”

“What do you care about dying humans?” The boy asked, looking at Jaehyun accusingly. “I can tell you don’t. Rather ironic for an angel, don’t you think?”

Jaehyun glared back, the two caught in a staring match until the boy looked back at his papers. “These people,” He eventually said, “They’ve been missing from a week, up to a month. This girl, just went missing yesterday.” The boy pointed at a smiling girl with rosy cheeks. She was cute, for humans, Jaehyun supposed.

“The only common thing about all of them, is that they all went missing on a Tuesday.”

Jaehyun let out a snort at that, “Of course! Satanic ritual Tuesdays, haven’t you heard of them?” He asked sardonically.

The boy looked annoyed as he spared Jaehyun a glance.

“Surely you’ve connected the dots by now, that these humans were used as sacrifices for demonic rituals?” Jaehyun asked, eyebrows raised in judgment.

“We don’t know that for sure,” The boy started, “We weren’t able to trace any of the missing people to the ritual sites—“ Jaehyun’s incredulous laugh cut him off.

“Of course they’re related! Why else would people go missing every single week on the same day?”

The boy clenched his jaw. “I was hoping that wasn’t the case.”

“Well, hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but that seems to be the case.” Jaehyun said in mock sympathy.

The boy scowled. “I really could do without your attitude.” He said.

“Look who’s talking.” Jaehyun shot back.

They sulked in tense silence for a while until the boy finally spoke up again.

“What could you possibly do to help me?” He asked, sounding annoyed that he’d even have to ask.

Jaehyun smirked, “A lot. I’ve dealt with my fair share of demons in my time, even befriended a few.” Jaehyun said, mind going to Chan.

They hadn’t been on the best of terms since the whole betrayal fiasco, but Jaehyun thought maybe they were getting somewhere. They had been in isolation with only each other trying to save Seungmin after all. Jaehyun liked to believe if he came to Chan for help, the king would help him.

“I could come with you to one of these sites. I can see if I can pick up on any remnants of demonic energy. I might just be able to cut to the source of your problems in a way a human could not.” Jaehyun said, a self-satisfied grin stretched across his face. He could see he had already won the argument. The boy had his jaw clenched in sweet defeat.

“Perfect! Then it’s settled.” Jaehyun said without waiting for the boy’s answer. He stood up and clasped his hands together. “Now, if you could be so kind as to show me to my room…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed a V cocky Jaehyun lol (Prideful?? Perhaps that's a better word, all angels are at least a lil prideful after all)
> 
> Next chapter we going BACK! If ya know what I mean ;)  
> If not--you'll see~
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	6. In another life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Changbin and Felix find themselves thrown in time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So--for any Korean history experts out there, pls don't come at me lol suspension of disbelief for this one I tried
> 
> Also, thank you guys for 100 kudos!!! ☺️♡♡♡♡

When Changbin opened his eyes, a wave of disorientation fell over him. He almost tripped in the procession he found himself in, walking swiftly in a line. A pink tinted veil was covering his face, but his mind was having a hard time trying to catch up to his situation to really think much about it.

He felt as if he were in a dream, watching himself in someone else’s body, not quite in control.

The person in front of Changbin stopped, so he stopped to, they all bowed low to the floor.

 _Where is Felix?_ Changbin distantly wondered, looking up slightly from his bowed position to try and catch a glimpse of the angel.

All he could see, was pink tinted cloth.

“Your highness,” A girl’s soft voice called out from beside him, “We’ve brought you gifts from the neighboring kingdom.”

“Ah yes, bring them here.” A male’s booming voice rang out in the room. Immediately, they stood again, lining up to give the king presents Changbin hadn’t realized he was holding.

It wasn’t until it was Changbin’s turn to hand the king his present, that he realized he was wearing a dress, to be more exact—an old Joseon style dangui and chima. And it took another second to realize that he wasn’t exactly who he’d been before the jump back in time.

He obediently shuffled in line afterwards. Mind slowly processing everything that was happening when he caught someone’s gaze. More importantly—Felix’s gaze from across the room. The angel was dressed as a royal guard, a long, silver sword sheathed at his side. His eyes went wide when his eyes met Changbin’s, the angel made like he wanted to go to him—but didn’t.

Changbin accidently tripped over his own dress in the process, the girl behind him giggled as they left the room.

“Chaebin-ah! You’re so clumsy! One of these days you’re going to get yourself hurt.” The girl teased as she playfully hit Changbin’s arm. It hurt more than it should have.

“I—what?” Changbin asked, gasping when his voice came out very much _not_ his own. It was much higher pitched, a lot softer, it almost sounded like he was—

Changbin caught his reflection as some people hauled a tray filled of silver trinkets past him. Changbin blinked in disbelief. The person looking back at him wasn’t a _him_ at all, it was a girl, a human. And from the looks of it, he was back in the Joseon era. 

Changbin followed the others around aimlessly that day, doing whatever they were doing, or what they told him to do. It seemed he was no more than a palace maid, which was a blessing in disguise. _At least no one will pay much attention to me._

What surprised Changbin more was how comfortable he felt, considering his situation. After he’d gotten over the initial shock—everything seemed to fall into place. He was starting to believe he wasn’t just thrust into a random body in the past, he was starting to believe perhaps what he was now, was him in a past life.

 _“You already have an attachment to the place.”_ The Keeper’s words echoed back in his head. That had to be what he’d meant. It made sense after all, Changbin didn’t remember what his life was like before becoming a demon. Perhaps, this was it.

Night came, and Changbin finally had some time to himself as the other maids went to their sleeping quarters. The girl who had giggled behind Changbin earlier that day seemed to be a good friend of his, Dahyun, was her name. She hadn’t batted an eye when Changbin said he was going to get some fresh air. She even winked knowingly at him after he said it.

 _Whatever that’s supposed to mean,_ Changbin thought as he walked along a hidden path of the palace garden. He was hoping to run into Felix, since he hadn’t seen him since the throne room, but he didn’t know where to start looking.

A hand suddenly grasped onto his shoulder, and Changbin couldn’t help but let out a scream, throwing his arms up in a sad display of protection. He turned, breathing hard, to see Felix’s wide eyes looking back at him.

“Oh, Felix, it’s just you.” Changbin said, hand over his heart as he tried to slow his breathing. It seemed even in this life, he was jumpy.

“Chang—bin?” Felix sputtered, like he couldn’t believe it, his eyes said otherwise though. Even back in the throne room, Felix and instantly known it was him.

Changbin let a smirk cross his face as he peered up at an even taller Felix now that Changbin was a girl. “What? Do I look that different?” Changbin teased, “I was a lot cuter as a boy, wasn’t I?”

Felix shook his head slowly, and then faster as he registered Changbin’s words. “No! You just—wow I didn’t—you’re a girl.” Felix finally managed to stutter out. Changbin laughed in mirth at the angel’s awed look. When he met Felix’s eyes again, the angel was looking quite red, it was a look Changbin hadn’t seen in a while. He tilted his head to the side to take him in.

“You like it?“ He asked, grabbing the bottom of his dress to floof it around a bit, twirling for good measure. He reached up to undo his hair from the up-do it was currently in, letting long, black hair cascade around his face.

Perhaps he was really playing it up, but it was kind of fun being a girl, and he was definitely going to use this against Felix.

“Fuck, Changbin.” Felix breathed out, eyes not blinking as he continued to stare at him. Changbin grinned, unhinged.

“Apparently, it’s _Chaebin_ now.” Changbin said breezily, letting his fingers run through his hair absentmindedly. He felt like the longer he stayed in this time period, the more he felt accustomed to his new (or old) body.

“ _God,_ you’re so cute.” Felix said, walking forward to cup Changbin’s face in his hands. “Your cheeks are even chubbier now.” The angel pulled at his cheeks lightly, causing Changbin to giggle.

Felix groaned at the sound, “You’re going to be the death of me.”

Changbin pouted up at him, “You seem to be a lot more into this body than my demon one.” Though he didn’t mind the burst of affection, a little part of his mind wondered if Felix wished Changbin was a human girl instead.

“I love you no matter what you look like, Binnie.” Felix said, caressing his cheeks with his thumbs. “But since I’ve never seen you like this before, I think I’m allowed to be a little _extra_ affectionate _._ ” Felix leaned down, Changbin immediately closing his eyes, expecting a kiss, but after what felt like eons had passed and no lips made contact, Changbin cracked his eyes back open.

“What—?” But Felix wasn’t looking at him anymore, he had one hand on his sword, and was looking off to their right.

“Someone’s coming.” Felix said, right as a man’s voice called, “Chaebin!”

Changbin’s body reacted instinctually to the voice, shoving Felix into the bushes as the new person approached. Changbin found himself smiling widely, mirroring the smile the boy had on his face once he’d caught Changbin’s gaze.

 _What the fuck, do I know him?_ A very distant part of Changbin thought, but it seemed his past self had taken over.

“There you are, I was waiting by the pond for you like usual, but when you didn’t come I was worried,“ He was right in front of Chaebin now, bringing a hand to trace down the side of her face before he twirled her hair idly around a finger.

“I know I’ve said this before, but you somehow manage to be even more stunning in the moonlight.” The boy said. A warm feeling spread through Chaebin’s chest, she smiled up at him.

“You may have told me before, but I never get tired of hearing it.” She said, leaning further into the boy’s touch.

“I wish we didn’t have to meet in secret, but I don’t want my father to hurt you.” The boy said, and Chaebin’s heartbeat picked up speed. It was then that the part of him that had no idea what was going on took in the boy’s blue gonryongpo and the four-toed dragon emblems that decorated his robes and realized just who he was.

He was a prince, _the_ prince. His name came to him as if it had always been there in the recesses of his mind, _Jimin._

“Which is why I’ve been thinking,” Jimin said, reaching to take both of Chaebin’s hands in his own, “Let’s run away together.”

“W—what?” Chaebin exclaimed, wide eyes staring into his hopeful, almost desperate ones.

“Please, Chaebin. I want to be with you, I love you. And I know—I know you feel the same way.” The prince said earnestly, leaning down to place his forehead against Chaebin’s. Chaebin’s heart could have outrun an Olympic gold medalist by this point. (Not that she would know what that was, but Changbin did). 

“But you—you’re the _prince,_ you can’t run away!” Chaebin argued, though there wasn’t much fight behind her words, instead, it seemed like a question, hopeful.

“I don’t care what I am, I don’t care what you are, I just want to be with you.”

Changbin’s brain short-circuited. The part of him what wasn’t consumed by his past self had always wanted to hear those words. Had agonized over not hearing them when he’d gotten into his last fight with Felix, right before the shapeshifter had taken him.

It was what their argument had been about in the first place.

Changbin didn’t care that Felix was an angel and he was a demon, he just wanted to be with Felix, no matter the cost, but the angel hadn’t agreed. Felix couldn’t give up being an angel, and Changbin was hurt, hurt by the idea that he loved Felix more than Felix loved him, that Changbin was willing to risk it all for their love, when Felix was not.

Changbin felt tears being to prick behind his eyes. He surged forward to kiss the prince, a searing kiss that held so much longing and fear, everything his past self and present self felt combined.

Changbin let the tears streak down his cheeks, sniffling when they finally pulled apart. Jimin gently swiped the tears away with the pads of his thumbs, his smile soft and filled with love.

There came a rustle from the bushes, and the prince whipped his head towards the sound before cupping Chaebin’s face with a sense of urgency. “Tomorrow, then?” Jimin said, eyes searching Chaebin’s for her approval. Chaebin only nodded.

“Meet me right here, tomorrow night when the moon is highest in the night sky.” Jimin said walking backwards from Chaebin, a hand still touching hers.

“I’ll be here.” Chaebin chocked out, giving him a little smile. Jimin smiled back in relief.

“I love you.” He called out to Chaebin before turning to run the other way.

“I love you too.” Chaebin whispered after him. She stood for a few minutes, before dropping to a crouch on the dirt path, tears blurring her vision.

“Changbin—” Felix sounded annoyed, but Changbin couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment, too overwhelmed by feelings from both the present and the past.

“What the hell was that?” Felix asked accusingly, eyebrows furrowed until he finally took in Changbin’s crying form. “Binnie?” Felix called, sounding unsure as he crouched in front of him. Changbin sniffled, trying hard to reign in the tears.

“ _I don’t care what I am, I don’t care what you are—”_

_I’ll do anything to be with you._

He looked up at Felix, red-rimmed eyes catching sight of a startled angel. He loved Felix, of course he did, but it was like he was battling between two versions of himself that hadn’t meshed completely together.

 _Why would you stay with someone whose love has a limit?_ His past self spoke, _When the prince will do anything because he loves you?_

Changbin pulled away from Felix when he reached out to him, staggering as Changbin stood up quickly.

“Bin—”

“Can you look for the Keeper tomorrow? I’m not sure how much help I’ll be in finding him. And I don’t know how much longer I’ll even be here.” Changbin said, voice cold. He wouldn’t meet Felix’s eyes, wrapping his arms around himself in a false sense of protection.

“Sure, Binnie, but—”

“I should go before the other maids come looking for me.” Changbin said, turning to walk back up the dirt path. “Let me know tomorrow if you find anything.”

With his heart filled to bursting from a mixture of raw emotions and a fresh set of tears threatening to spill, Changbin hurried back to the maids’ quarters, dress swishing around his legs.

He hoped Felix wouldn’t come after him, and yet—he wished that he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic started off minsung centric but alas it seems changlix has taken center stage
> 
> They really pulled an “extraordinary you” on me and said they deserved a bigger role oof
> 
> P.S. Also Jimin prince y e s
> 
> P.P.S Fun fact--this whole Heaven and Hell story I actually wrote as a BTS fic first and I finished it--only to lose it when my hard drive crashed sad day. But it's okay, because I'd been wanting to write a skz fic and I actually like how this one turned out even better ;) the plot was--kinda the same? but also really different


	7. No magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hyunjin devises a plan, and 2Min have a heart to heart

“No magic? That’s insane!” Hyunjin lamented as the three found themselves back in their small, studio apartment. Seungmin’s wings seemed to take up half the space themselves.

“It’s not insane if the demonic cult is out searching for magic.” Jeongin countered tiredly, “Besides, we’re trying to keep Seungmin safe. Chan hyung is right, we can’t let anyone know about him or else everyone will be trying to find him—or worse.”

Hyunjin grumbled, he knew Jeongin had a point, but still. No magic? That seemed like a death sentence in itself, what if something happened? What if they needed to put out a fire? Or make toast??

“Well, looks like you both are going to be stuck living life the human way for a while.” Seungmin said rather smugly as he drank tea on the couch. It was such an odd sight to see, Nephilim Seungmin, black, gold tinged wings on full display as he sipped happily from a mug that read, “Keep Calm and Go to Hell.” (Jeongin had bought it, he thought it was funny.)

“I just don’t like the fact that we’re essentially hiding from a demon cult. Doesn’t that sound kind of pathetic to you? I’m an angel! Jeongin is a fire-breathing demon cat! Seungmin, you’re literally a myth!” Hyunjin said, thrusting his arms out towards the boy. Seungmin frowned at him over his tea.

“We should be going after them! Nipping the whole thing in the bud.” Hyunjin slammed a fist into his open palm for emphasis.

“He was a point.” Jeongin said as he and Seungmin shared a look.

“I do?” Hyunjin was taken aback at how quickly Jeongin had given in, “I mean, yeah, I do!”

“ _But,_ ” Seungmin countered, “Jeongin also has a point. Remember what Jisung said? The demon they’re summoning is _Luci—”_ Jeongin slapped a hand across Seungmin’s mouth, the Nephilim grumbling out in confusion.

“Don’t say his name out loud.” Jeongin hissed, “What if he hears you?” Hyunjin and Seungmin shared a look.

“You do know—that makes zero sense, right?” Hyunjin pointed out, a hand on his hip.

“You don’t know that.” Jeongin pouted, “It’s _Luci—”_ He cut himself off with wide eyes, “You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“Okay, then _Luci,_ ” Seungmin continued, giving Jeongin a pointed look, “Is the demon they’re summoning. You really want to mess with that?”

“No.” Hyunjin and Jeongin both said at once.

“But human occultists, that we can deal with.” Hyunjin said, coming over to sit at the edge of their bed. Everything was within a few feet of each other in their tiny apartment.

“We just get there before they summon Luci,” Hyunjin said, “And I can wipe their memories of everything demonic, and bam. Luci has lost his human henchmen.”

“I don’t like the idea of going anywhere near that place.” Jeongin mumbled. Hyunjin opened his mouth to argue, but then he caught sight of Jeongin’s expression and was shocked to see the demon seemed genuinely afraid.

Hyunjin remembered what Jeongin had told him on the rooftop what felt like ages ago, that he believed _he_ was Lucifer’s son. Hyunjin wondered if something new had happened to Jeongin to make him act like this, _scared._

“And I don’t like the idea of Seungmin going in there either.” Jeongin said before Hyunjin could say anything else. He met Hyunjin’s eyes in a hard stare.

“Very well,” Hyunjin finally said after a few beats of silence, “You guys don’t have to come, I’ll get help from someone else.” Hyunjin said, a plan already formulating in his mind.

“Who?” Jeongin asked warily.

Seungmin rolled his eyes, “Who else? The only two demons who have been to the site before.”

Hyunjin smiled at them as Jeongin let out a small “Oh.”

Of course he would ask Jisung and Minho for help. They’d be sure to go along with his plan.

~  
  


“No.” Minho said firmly, not even looking at Hyunjin when the angel met the two near the Han River. Jisung had been curious as to what the angel could possibly want to meet them for. He had to say, this wasn’t what he’d been expecting.

“What? Why not?!” The angel exclaimed. 

“They killed a _girl_ the last time I was there, Hyunjin!” Minho shouted back, thankfully no humans were within listening range or they might have called the cops on them. “And the place was just—creepy. No. Thank. You.”

Hyunjin pouted, turning pleading eyes onto Jisung. “Sungie?”

If someone had told Jisung that guardian angel Hyunjin would be pleading to Jisung and calling him _Sungie_ a year ago, Jisung would have laughed, killed them, and then gone and killed himself to stop that from ever happening, but with everything that had happened to them, he guessed the angel wasn’t _so_ bad.

Jisung grinned at him mischievously. “You asking me on a date? Jinnie?” He made kissy faces at the angel for good measure.

“Yah,” Minho exclaimed, turning towards Jisung. Jisung caught his gaze, confused at the tension that suddenly materialized between them. Was Minho actually—jealous? How could he be, he’d acted like he’d hated every moment of their last _date_. Jisung had pretended not to be affected, but deep down he had been kind of hurt. He’d started thinking perhaps Minho had gotten tired of Jisung after all. Perhaps Jisung had expended all of Minho’s tolerance towards him, like his free trial to Minho’s love and affection had finally (inevitably) expired.

“Ugh, never mind,” Hyunjin said, sounding uncomfortable, “I’ll just do it myself.” He turned to leave but Jisung reached out to catch his arm. Tearing his gaze from Minho’s to Hyunjin’s.

“Wait! I never said I wouldn’t go with you.” Jisung gulped, “Besides, you definitely can’t go alone.”

Hyunjin gave Jisung an insulted look, “Why not?”

“Jinnie, you’re an angel. You don’t understand how much bad mojo there is involved with summoning pentagrams.”

“Mojo?” Minho muttered judgingly.

“Besides, I’m a demon. Demonic cults are my specialty.” Jisung puffed his chest out in pride.

“Are they though?” Minho countered. Jisung shot him a look. _Why does he keep doing that?_ Minho’s snarky remarks were starting to get on Jisung’s nerves. Did he really annoy Minho that much?

“Ok, fine. You can help me. But don’t be— _weird_ about it.” Hyunjin sighed, gesturing to Jisung’s being as a whole. Jisung might have been offended if his emotions weren’t already in turmoil.

Jisung barked out a laugh, trying to salvage what control he had left of his emotions. “Weird? But that’s my middle name!”

“You don’t even have a last name.” Minho pointed out.

Jisung snapped, “Okay, what’s your problem?”

“On that note, I’m gonna go now.” Hyunjin said, disappearing without another word, not that the two demons payed him much attention.

“What? Are you actually angry at me right now?” Minho asked, eyes wide.

Jisung scoffed, “Are _you_ angry at _me_? Because it seems like everything I do annoys you nowadays.” Jisung glared, “Are we really back to where we were before this whole mess happened?”

Minho looked taken aback, “What—what are you talking about?”

“You! Minho, you still hate me, don’t you? I finally am able to take you on a date, and you didn’t enjoy it at all! You kept complaining the whole time, and never smiled at me once!”

Minho stared; mouth agape as he took in Jisung’s words. “Sung—”

“No, just—don’t.” Jisung said feebly, suddenly interested in the ground beneath their feet. He didn’t dare look at Minho, he didn’t want to see the answer he was fearing the most. That Minho really _was_ over him, that he’d realized how infuriating Jisung was, how _useless_ Jisung was. He’d already failed to protect Minho once, after all.

“I’m—I’m gonna go back to Chan. I’ll see you around.” Jisung said in a rush, about to leave when Minho’s voice rang out.

“Yah, Jisung, _hyung,”_

Jisung looked up in shock, meeting Minho’s steely brown eyes. The boy walked up to Jisung, until Jisung had to physically look up to meet his gaze.

“Do you really think I don’t care about you? That I _hate_ you?” Minho spat out like the word itself burned.

Jisung opened his mouth, but Minho barreled on, “Because if you do, you’re even more of an idiot than I thought.” Minho lifted a hand, Jisung closed his eyes, readying himself for a slap, a punch, _something,_ but instead, Minho’s hand brushed his face lightly.

“I’m sorry.” Minho said, Jisung’s eyes snapped back open. “I’m sorry I acted like I hated it. I just—I don’t know how to act around you anymore. It’s—it’s just _different_.”

Jisung nodded like he understood. He didn’t, not really. To him it was simple; he liked Minho, and he wanted to show him that he did. Regardless of their rocky past, what did it matter when he liked him now?

“I guess, I just need some time.” Minho said, hopeful gaze meeting Jisung’s. “Is that okay?”

Jisung slowly nodded, not sure what else he could say. Minho gave him a small smile. Jisung supposed it wasn’t supposed to be a rejection, but why did it feel so much like one?

~  
  


Tuesday came around faster than Minho could say “cult Tuesdays with the bros.” Minho and gone with Jisung when the demon left to meet Hyunjin in the human realm. They hadn’t really talked all too much since their talk at the river, and Minho felt like he was walking on eggshells every time they were in the same room.

He hated it, the weird tension between the two. It was so much easier to revert back to their bickering, snarky back and forth, but it seemed Jisung had been able to move past that so much faster than Minho. It bothered him that Jisung seemed so _sure_ , while Minho was struggling, barely staying afloat though the ocean of his emotions.

The two were silent as they walked down the suffocating hallway to Hyunjin’s apartment. Minho felt like he should say something, but he didn’t know what. He resulted to shoving his hands into his pockets in an effort to feel less awkward.

Hyunjin opened the door not long after Jisung had knocked. The angel raised an eyebrow at the two.

“I thought you said you weren’t coming, Min?” Hyunjin questioned, standing back so the two could enter.

“I’m not. I’m here to see Seungminnie.” Minho said, all but running to his best friend’s side. Seungmin, though surprised, embraced Minho welcomingly, letting the cambion latch onto his arm.

Jisung stood awkwardly inside the doorway. “Ready to go?” He asked Hyunjin, voice sounding strained. Minho’s heart tugged, knowing he was probably the reason behind it.

Hyunjin looked between the two demons like he might find an answer there, but ultimately shrugged. “Sure, let’s go.”

“Don’t die!” Jeongin’s voice came from their tiny kitchen.

Hyunjin scoffed, “It’ll take more than a satanic cult to bring me down.”

Jisung was about to close the door behind them when Minho finally found his voice.  
“Sungie—”

Jisung turned to look at him.

“Be safe, mm?” Minho hummed. Jisung only nodded, staring at him a second longer before closing the door. Minho immediately let out a sigh, collapsing into Seungmin’s side.

“What was that about?” The Nephilim asked, petting Minho’s hair. Minho sighed.

“I’m the problem.” He mumbled into Seungmin’s side, before bringing himself upright. “Seungie, I need help.”

Seungmin took in his distressed, lovesick look and scoffed, “I can see that.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t bother you with my own problems when you’re—well,” Minho waved vaguely at Seungmin, and Seungmin’s wings (they were so big they could probably be considered their own entity). 

Seungmin laughed, “Yeah, I’m not exactly human anymore, so I’ve been told.” He teased.

Minho scoffed, “This is serious, Seungie. Are you okay?”

Seungmin shrugged, “Well, as okay as I can be.” His wings fluttered behind him. “Still trying to get used to everything, but I’m okay. But _you_ —” Seungmin said, nudging Minho with a shoulder, “You’re clearly not.”

“Gee thanks.” Minho grumbled.

“What? You said it first!”

“Are you guys going to start talking about relationships?” Jeongin asked, nose scrunched in distaste as he walked back into the room.

“Like we’re not in one, Innie?” Seungmin arched an eyebrow. The demon’s blue skinned cheeks turned a few shades lighter. Minho couldn’t help but snicker.

“That’s—that’s not the point.” Jeongin said, “I don’t want to hear about Jisungie hyung’s love problems.”

“Then get out of here!” Seungmin exclaimed, a smile on his face as he pointed to the door. “I’d leave, but I don’t know how to hide these on my own,” Seungmin said, hooking a thumb at the attached feathered entity.

“Good point.” Minho agreed sagely.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll be back later.” Jeongin grumbled, making his way out the door.

“Bye Innie!” Seungmin called cheerily. The door clicked closed behind him, and Seungmin whipped around in Minho’s direction, his wings accidently pushing several items off the table in front of them. Seungmin paid it no attention.

“Now spill.”

Minho scratched the back of his neck, “Well, you know how Jisung likes me, and I l—well, I li—” Minho frowned.

“You like him, hyung I know, we all know. Hell, that cup over there probably knows.” Seungmin rolled his eyes, pointing in the direction of a “Keep Calm and Go to Hell” mug. Minho squinted at the cup, not sure if he should be offended.

“Okay… well _anyways_ , he seems so _okay_ with liking me, and showing that he likes me and I don’t—I don’t—,” Minho sighed, running a hand through his hair, “What are feelings?” He mumbled dumbly, lifting his hands in vague expression. He suddenly felt extremely embarrassed. Maybe having a heart to heart was a stupid idea.

“Have you kissed him?” Seungmin asked, voice serious.

“What? Yeah! I’ve kissed him!” Minho sputtered, seriously reconsidering his decision to come to Seungmin for help. _We’ve done far more than kiss…_

“Well then, what’s the problem?” Seungmin blinked questioningly. “I’m pretty sure a kiss means you like someone.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not—enough.” Minho said, “We went on a date last week.”

“Ooo! A date?” Seungmin perked up.

“Yeah, but—we got into an argument the other day, and Jisung was saying how I only complained the whole time, and I didn’t smile at him once.”

Seungmin stared at him, open mouthed, “You—why?”

“I don’t know! It’s just—what came naturally.” Minho gritted out, already frustrated at himself. “I just—can’t seem to switch over as fast as he had.”

Seungmin hummed in thought, “What are you gonna do?”

Minho blinked, “That’s what I came to you about!”

“Well I don’t know! I’ve always liked Hyunie and In.”

Minho sighed. The thing about going from enemies to lovers was just that; it was like a huge chasm, too far to jump across and land safely in one piece.

Minho wasn’t sure when the switch happened between them, somewhere between finally admitting that yes, Jisung _was_ cute, even in that cocky, squirrel type way (Minho had always liked the neighborhood squirrels), to finding out Jisung wasn’t an asshat of a demon, he actually did have morals, he actually _did_ care.

Every ounce of Minho wanted Jisung, and yet—it was still hard to jump across that chasm. His heart told him he’d make it, but his mind told him he wouldn’t.

“I think it’s all in your head, Min. If you like Jisung, then just _tell_ him you like him! Get out of that pretty head of yours.” Seungmin poked a finger into the side of Minho’s head. “You don’t always have to keep up your “tough guy” image, you know. You’re not fooling anyone.” Seungmin smirked.

“You’re probably right,” Minho conceded. _In my head, huh?_ Seungmin had a point; it _was_ a disconnect between his heart and his mind that was the problem.

“Of course I am.” Seungmin said, sounding pleased.

“Yah, Kim Seungmin! When’d you get so wise?” Minho asked, cracking his first genuine smile in a while.

Seungmin smiled smugly with a shrug, “Maybe it came along with coming back from the dead.”

“Oh, about that—what happened? You were gone for so long; we were staring to think you’d really—”

Seungmin’s smile faltered, “Yeah, I’m not really sure. I don’t remember anything, just—bits and pieces towards the end. I remember it was like a constant tug-of-war battle inside of me. That I couldn’t let go of the rope for once second, or I’d risk losing myself for good.”

“Do you still—feel that way?” Minho asked cautiously.

Seungmin shook his head, “No, not since Chan told me to let it go. I let the Nephilim side take over, and now—” Seungmin’s wings flapped behind him, “I’m this, whatever _this_ is.”

“A myth, so I’ve heard.” Minho meant for it to be a joke, but Seungmin’s smile seem strained.

“I just—don’t understand why they did this to me if this thing that I am now, isn’t even supposed to exist.”

“You remember what Jaehyun said, right?” Minho started, placing a comforting hand on Seungmin’s thigh, “He thought creating a Nephilim would finally be what connected Heaven and Hell—”

Seungmin gave a humorless laugh, “And wasn’t Jaehyun our enemy? Didn’t he betray us? But even in the end, he still got what he’d wanted.” A silence spread between the two.

“I don’t care,” Minho eventually said, hand balled into a fist, “I don’t care that Jaehyun got what he wanted in the end if it means that you’re alive.”

Seungmin scoffed, his wings deflating around him, “Is what I’ve become really worth being alive though?” He caught Minho’s gaze. Seungmin looked so lost, Minho pulled him into a hug.

“I don’t care if we have to fight off all of Heaven and Hell, because you’re worth it, Kim Seungmin, my best friend.”

“Y—yah,” Seungmin chuckled, patting Minho on his back, “And who said Lee Minho couldn’t be soft? This is what you need to show to Jisung.” Minho laughed in his embrace. He was so happy to have his best friend back, no matter what they’d face in the future, he’d stick by Seungmin’s side.

And that was a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone else ever have that problem? When you're stuck treating someone one way no matter if you'd like to change it or not?  
> Maybe it really is just a side effect of being tsundere, lol.  
> Food for thought
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	8. Swear not by the moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Changbin's past catches up to him, and there isn't much anyone can do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up bois, that's all I can say for this one
> 
> (also, I really love Got7's song "Not by the moon," I guess it's kinda old news now but it's a solid bop)

Felix found him when he was readying a tray to bring to the king for lunch.

“Changbin,” Felix whispered, standing a respectable distance from the maid as there were other people around, and a royal guard wasn’t really supposed to be there.

“Mm?” Changbin questioned, not really looking up at the angel. He hadn’t been able to sleep last night, his mind busy replaying the night’s events over and over in his head. Echoes of insecurities from the past resurfacing like cicadas in the summer. Loud, noisy, and wouldn’t fucking _shut up_.

“I think I found the Keeper.” Felix whispered back. That made Changbin look up, meeting Felix’s apprehensive expression. Clearly the angel could sense something was up with Changbin, though where it should have given Changbin reassurance, he felt—nothing.

“That’s good. Let me deliver this tray, and then we can go.” Changbin said, bending to pick up the rather heavy tray as it was weighed down with various silverware, tea, and plates of food. Felix made as if to help him, but Changbin shook his head fervently.

“I’ve got this.” He grumbled, skirt swishing around him as he made his way out of the kitchen. Thankfully, the throne room wasn’t too far from the kitchen, and Changbin couldn’t wait to place the tray down in front of the king, though before he could even get within a three-foot radius of the king, someone was taking the tray from his hands.

Changbin looked up into the smiling face of the prince, and his heart skipped a few beats, Chaebin smiled back like a love-struck puppy.

“Jimin-ah, why are you messing with that?” The king chastised as he watched his son place the tray on the table in lieu of Chaebin. Chaebin bowed deeply to the king.

“It looked heavy.” The prince said, not taking his eyes off of Chaebin, “She didn’t do anything wrong.” Chaebin felt the tension rise uneasily in the room. The king turned his steely gaze in Chaebin’s direction. She gulped.

“You, what’s your name?”

Chaebin stared at the king with wide eyes, not sure if she should talk or not.

“Speak, child.” The king said harshly.

“Chaebin, your majesty.” She said, bending back into a bow.

“Well, next time, do your job.”

“Of course, your majesty.” Chaebin said, but the prince stepped in.

“It’s not her fault, I’m the one who—”

“Enough!” The king’s booming voice rang. “Let’s just eat.” The king turned his back on her. Chaebin straightened to catch the apologetic look the prince shot her way.

“ _I’m okay_.” She mouthed, smiling for good measure. The prince still looked worried, but Chaebin didn’t stand around to watch. She briskly walked out of the throne room, only to run into Felix’s sturdy chest.

“Whoa, are you okay?” Felix asked, catching Changbin by the arms as he almost went down in shock.

“’M fine.” Changbin breathed out. Not wanting to show how shaken his past self had been at the whole encounter. It was her lover’s father after all, and the _king_ no less. If anything, it only solidified the severity of what they were about to do that night.

 _“Meet me when the moon is highest in the night sky._ ”

Changbin only hoped they wouldn’t regret it.

“Let’s just go.” Changbin said, “The faster we meet him, the faster we can go back to our time.” He made to leave, but Felix’s grip held him in place.

“Changbin—are you sure you’re okay?”

Changbin looked up at him then, Felix wore the same concerned look he had earlier. Changbin sighed, feeling so much at once that he almost felt nothing at all.

“Can we please go?” He pleaded to the angel, unwavering as he held Felix’s gaze. The angel eventually nodded, releasing his grip on Changbin’s arms.

“Sure, sure.” He gestured to lead the way, and the two made their way swiftly out of the palace, making sure to keep to empty hallways in case anyone stopped them.

“I took Namjoon’s words literally, you know how he said something about “all you have to do is ask.”” Felix mimicked the Keeper’s voice, but Changbin couldn’t’ find it in himself to laugh like he might have usually.

Felix cleared his throat at the lack of reaction, “I found the palace library, and the bookkeeper there pointed me in the right direction.”

“So, what did you find?” Changbin asked as they pressed up against a wall letting two guards cross the hallway ahead of them before continuing.

“There’s a lake, but it’s said that there’s a pavilion that will appear to the right person, and that this pavilion is where the Keeper of Space likes to spend his time.”

Changbin hummed contemplatively, the two hurrying across the palace grounds only to hide against another wall, peeking out to eye the guards positioned at the palace gates.

“And you think one of us is the right person?” Changbin asked.

Felix shrugged, “Namjoon seemed rather confident that you were the right person for the job.”

“What are we gonna do about them?” Changbin asked, gesturing towards the guards.

“Watch and learn.” Felix said before strutting out into the open. “Hello boys, the queen requires your presence in the courtyard.”

Changbin raised an eyebrow at his tactics. The guards looked at each other, unconvinced. 

“She sent me to tell you, and to take over for the meantime. It had something to do with a broken weapon in the gallery?” Felix supplied. That seemed to get the guards moving, they quickly shuffled away leaving the gate free.

Felix turned to Changbin, arms wide as if asking for praise. Changbin came out of his hiding place.

“You did well.” Changbin played along, letting loose the smallest of smiles. He reached up to pat Felix’s hair. Felix smiled down at him, and it almost felt like things were back to normal. _Almost._

“Well, ya know, reading humans minds does come in handy sometimes. Let’s go before they come back.” Felix said, and the two slipped out the palace gates.

They passed through the rather bustling village outside the palace on the way to the lake. An array of street vendors lined the streets, selling everything from trinkets, to weapons, to fresh produce. A part of Changbin swelled at the sight, extremely content to be walking freely through the village.

“So, how much of you is Changbin right now? And how much of you is Chaebin?” Felix finally asked, voice tentative as if he were poking at a sleeping bear.

“I’m not too sure,” Changbin started, “Sometimes she takes over, and sometimes, I feel like I’m living both lives at the same time.”

“So last night—when you kissed the prince—” Felix started.

“That was Chaebin.” Changbin said. Felix let out what sounded like a breath of relief, but the sound made Changbin’s chest twist uneasily.

What he’d said was true after all, but it wasn’t the whole truth. Though Chaebin was the one acting, Changbin still felt his own emotions coming through in their encounter. He couldn’t with full certainty say that he wasn’t the one who wanted something more with the prince. Something of which he couldn’t fully process.

The walk to the lake wasn’t too far out from the village center, the two took the back trails through the forest, Changbin hiking up his skirts as they climbed their way up a hill. Felix held out a hand to help him, which Changbin adamantly refused to take, until he almost tripped, and reluctantly reached out for the angel’s help.

The lake was—huge. It looked almost unnatural, seeming to pop up out of nowhere in a clearing of tall pine trees.

“Do you see the pavilion?” Felix asked as they made their way to the water’s edge. Changbin shook his head. The lake looked vast in its emptiness. The water reflecting the clear blue of the sky above.

He came to crouch by the edge, staring down at his reflection in the lake. Big, brown eyes stared back at him. A strand of hair had come loose from its updo, coming down to tickle Changbin’s slightly reddened cheeks. He couldn’t help but stare back at his reflection. It was so different from everything he’d been used to, and yet—it struck a chord with him. Something about Chaebin was making a home in Changbin’s wounded heart, settling herself in the fractures.

Changbin tugged his pink lips up into a smile, _I hope you find what you’re looking for, Chaebin-ah. One of us should, at least._

He reached out to disrupt his reflection, ripples of the water stretching out to the center of the lake. Felix sucked in a breath, and Changbin looked up to see a giant pavilion rippling into focus, much like the water.

Within seconds, the pavilion stood as a physical object in the center of the lake.

“You did it.” Felix breathed, coming over to take Changbin’s hand in his. Changbin looked down at their hands and up to Felix’s face. His freckles were even more prominent in the midday sun as he took in the pavilion in awe.

Changbin’s eyebrows furrowed, what was it he was feeling? He _loved_ Felix; he knew he did. Was it Chaebin’s emotions that were getting entangled in his own?

“How are we supposed to get there though?” Felix pondered, snapping Changbin back to the present (or _past_ , technically).

Changbin stared at the lack of a pathway to the pavilion. Without really thinking about it, he took a step out onto the lake. Felix exclaimed out in warning, but the more weight Changbin put into the step, the more solid the water felt beneath him.

“Huh,” Changbin said, fully stepping out onto the water. Felix stared wide eyed at him before catching his eye. Changbin shrugged, the hand Felix was still holding warm in his grasp.

“Come on.” Changbin encouraged, taking another step forward. With every step Changbin took, a stone step materialized behind him, creating a walkway for Felix to follow. The two didn’t question it further, making their way closer to the pavilion.

It wasn’t until Changbin took the last step onto the platform that a floating figure came into view. A man was floating in a meditative stance with his legs crossed and eyes closed. Changbin turned to look at Felix, who stared with a raised eyebrow between them.

Changbin didn’t really want to disturb the guy, but they also couldn’t stand there waiting forever, so he gave a small cough.

The man lazily opened one eye, spotting Changbin, and blinking once, twice, before closing his eyes again with a smile.

“You found me.” He said, like he’d been playing a game of hide and seek for ages. Maybe he had.

“Erm, yes? Yes.” Changbin said, reaching around the fabric of his dress for the letter the Keeper of Time had handed them what felt like ages ago. _Or ages—in the future?_ Time travel was confusing.

“We bring a letter from the Keeper of Time.” Changbin held up the aged letter to the floating man, whose eyes snapped open at Changbin’s words.

“Namjoon?” The man asked excitedly, extending his legs so he was back on solid ground. “What era did this come from?” The keeper took the letter with a glint of happiness in his eyes.

“The 21st century.” Felix supplied.

“Ah yes, the 21st century, I remember it well. Of course Namjoon would be there, he loved that era, though I can’t fathom why.” Seokjin snorted, “I always preferred the simpler things in life.” He said with a waggle of both his eyebrows and his fingers, causing a sparkle of what looked like blue intergalactic space dust to trickled out from his fingertips. The angel then switched his attention to Felix appraisingly. 

“You’re an angel.” He said matter-of-factly, seeming neither impressed, nor disgusted.

“In the flesh.” Felix said, bowing a little in show. Changbin scoffed, catching the keeper’s attention.

“And you—you may be human in this form, but I can see the aura of Hell floating around you.” The man now seemed amused. “You’re a soft demon.”

Changbin gaped at him, “Hey!”

“Namjoon knows what I like.” The keeper winked at Changbin, who could only sputter in response as the keeper flipped open the letter.

Changbin and Felix stood there for a while, eyeing each other when time seemed to drag on and on and the Keeper of Space hadn’t moved from his spot, eyes scanning the letter.

 _Just how long is it?_ Changbin wondered.

“Um, excuse me, Keeper of Space?” Changbin called out gingerly. The keeper held up a finger in a universal “ _wait_ ,” continuing to read the letter until he finally let out a dramatic breath.

“Phew, that guy sure knows how to write convoluted messages. It took all of my brain cells plus some to figure out that “It has become a normal occurrence of mine to step into the mouth of the metal beast as it jolts through a darkened tunnel at hyper speeds” means that he’s started to take the subway.” The keeper chuckled, clearly amused as Felix shot Changbin a look like, _Is this guy serious?_

“Right. Well, now that we delivered you the message—” Changbin stopped short, the sky outside the pavilion had suddenly grown dark, like night had fallen in a single instant. His jaw dropped as a surge of panic laced through him.

“It’s already night?” Changbin cried in distress, running to the railing so he could crane his neck to see the night sky filled with stars.

“Oh yeah, this place doesn’t exactly exist anywhere _,_ so time doesn’t flow the same as it does on earth.” The keeper motioned to his pavilion as a whole.

“I’ve got to get back to the palace.” Changbin lifted his skirts, ready to run, but Felix shot out an arm, stopping him.

“What? Why are you going back? We’ve delivered the letter; we can go home now.”

 _Home,_ Changbin wasn’t sure where home was at the moment, Chaebin’s increasing presence was taking over. Changbin shot Felix a pleading look.

“Lix, I need to go back.” His voice sounded strained, praying Felix would understand. This wasn’t about Changbin, it was about Chaebin now.

Felix stared at him with a hard expression. The Keeper of Space tsked at them. “Oh let her go, angel. She obviously has some unfinished business in this era before you both can go back. But before you leave,” The keeper fished a glass flask out from seemingly nowhere, as if he’d bent space itself and procured it from the folds. He knelt down by the water to fill the flask.

“Here,” the keeper said, holding the flask out to Felix. “To repay your services.”

Felix took the flask with a small frown, “Thanks for the—lake water?”

The Keeper of Space had a certain twinkle in his eyes, “Not just any lake water, angel. It’s my lake water after all, and this has the ability to take you to a whole other world.”

Felix’s frown deepened, “You’re not giving me drugs, are you? You should know angels don’t—” But he was cut off by Seokjin’s peeling laughter.

“Silly angel, it’s not drugs—it’s even better.” He said with a mischievous wink. “But only use it when you absolutely have to. I was told this might come in handy someday.” There was a knowing spark in his eye.

“Alright, thanks.” Felix said somewhat hesitantly, pocketing the flask.

“Now go, you don’t want to be late.” The keeper gave Changbin a sad smile, one that made Changbin’s heart clench with dread, like Seokjin already knew what was going to happen.

Changbin ran like the wind, across the stone steps and out of the forest, not caring if Felix was following or not. His feet hurt from where the thin soles of his shoes were berated by the rough undergrowth, but he didn’t stop. He had to make it back soon, the moon was already high in the night sky.

He ran through the empty street that had been bustling with villagers and street vendors what felt like only an hour ago, his heart threatening to pound right out of his chest.

His dress caught on the side of a wooden cart as he rounded the corner, yanking harshly to free the material from its grasp. He almost fell as the fabric ripped from his skirt, his hair falling out of its bun, but he didn’t stop, stumbling to keep going.

The palace gate loomed up before him, but it seemed Chaebin knew a short cut, as she streaked in the opposite direction of the front gates, to a lower section of the wall hidden on the other side.

Chaebin pulled herself up, feet scrambling for purchase on a jutted-out stone before she managed to haul herself over, stumbling on the fall.

She picked herself up quickly, it didn’t matter, she was almost there.

Chaebin slowed her dash to a jogging pace, careful not to make too much noise as she used the tall bushes and leafy foliage for cover. The little lake in the middle of the palace garden was close, she thought she could already make out the top of the prince’s head from where he stood on the stone bridge that spanned across the lake.

The wide grin on her face left as quickly as it had come, however, when she rounded the corner, only to be ambushed by palace guards. She yelped, the ruckus catching the attention of the prince, but instead of running to her help, he looked at her helplessly, _fearfully_ , and Chaebin felt her heart drop to her feet, a sick churning beginning in her stomach.

She struggled in the guards’ grasp as they hauled her over to the prince. It was then that the king himself made his presence known, stepping out from the other side of the bridge to stride purposefully over to them, a menacing glare in his eyes.

“Father, _please_.” Jimin pleaded, holding out both arms as if he could ward the king from getting any closer. “Don’t hurt her, it’s all my _fault_ , I should be the one to be punished, just let her _go_ —”

“Silence, you ungrateful brat. Not another word out of you.” The king glared daggers at his son, shoving him bodily aside. Chaebin gasped as Jimin almost teetered over the bridge’s edge. His wide, shining eyes met Chaebin’s frantically, filled with such distress that tears immediately sprung to her own.

“Jimin—” Chaebin managed to choke out before a stinging slap struck her across her face.

“Be quiet you _whore,_ you will not call my son by his name. You will not call him ever again; I’ll make sure of it.” The king said with finality, a sadistic gleam in his eyes as he reached for a sword a guard handed to him.

Chaebin let out a sob. Her cheek stung, but her heart hurt, _ached_. The overwhelming pain of it enough to feel like she was physically wounded.

“Stop! No, father, you can’t!” Jimin screamed, but he was quickly swarmed by more guards, his fighting too uncoordinated and desperate to be effective in getting away. “Let me go! Don’t do this! You said you wouldn't, you _can’t_! _Chaebin-ah!”_

Chaebin couldn’t see through her tears, her body wracked with sobs. If it wasn’t for the guards still holding her up, she would have fallen, her legs too weak and shaking to hold her weight.

“Changbin!” Came Felix’s frantic voice, and the part of Changbin that wasn’t fully consumed sent out a plea to the angel. _Please, don’t do anything. Remember what Namjoon said, you can’t change my fate, or I might not have a me to go back to._

The king lifted the sword into the air as if to examine it. Moonlight shined off the sliver blade like the sword itself was glowing from within. It might have been a pretty sight, if Chaebin wasn’t so sure she knew what he was going to do with it.

“May you be damned to the deepest parts of Hell for ever thinking you had a chance with my son. Whoring yourself to him, thinking you meant something.” The king pressed the tip of the sword into Chaebin’s abdomen, only enough to draw the slightest bit of blood. Chaebin wheezed, heart pounding and aching so much she was sure she’d die from it before the king could kill her himself.

The king leaned closer to Chaebin, his repulsive, hot breath fanning over her ear. Jimin’s screams became white noise to Chaebin, as she was paralyzed with fear.

“Remember this well,” The king said, digging the sword in further. Chaebin gasped, round eyes staring up at him. “You will always mean _nothing_.”

The king plunged the sword straight through Chaebin, whose watery eyes widened in pain. She let out a small gurgle, blood dripping out of her mouth as the guards holding her let go unceremoniously. The king twisted in the sword unnecessarily, a satisfied grin spread across his face when Chaebin’s soft features twisted in pain.

She thought she could hear Jimin screaming for her, but it was too late. This was her fate. She was to die here at the hands of a crooked king. She should have known better than to think she could be with a prince. That she could have a happy ending. _That either of them could have a happy ending_.

 _You will always mean nothing,_ echoed in her head as the world turned dark around her, until suddenly—Felix was there. His hand catching Changbin’s as Chaebin’s body slumped to the stone floor.

Changbin looked up at Felix with teary, red rimmed eyes, not quite processing what had happened. Felix looked pained as he pulled Changbin up to him.

“Come on, let’s go _home_.” The angel’s voice cracked. Changbin took in the scene around him before Felix could take them back. Jimin was there, the guards had let him go once a bloody Chaebin had fallen dead to the ground. Changbin inhaled sharply at the sight, to see a body he’d felt so comfortable in, felt so connected with be reduced to nothing but bloodied silk and dim, stricken eyes.

Jimin was sobbing over her, calling her name like she might smile up at him once again. One of her pale hands hung limp in his grasp. The king watched the scene stoically, prior sadistic glee thinly hidden from his face. He motioned for the guards to follow him, turning tail to leave the grieving prince sobbing over his love. Changbin could still make out Jimin’s choked words through his cries.

“I love you, I love you _, I love you_ , I’m so _sorry_ ,”

Changbin turned around, shielding himself from the scene to find comfort in Felix’s warm chest. A flash of green light started to form around them. However, as his past started to fade away, it was five words that rang out to Changbin like a sick promise.

_You will always mean nothing._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooo how are we feeling folks? Why do I like writing tragic scenes like this so much? I’m sorry (but also I felt this scene so deeply I can’t help but love it) I shed a few tears writing this ngl
> 
> The next chapter will be a fun one to soften any aching hearts <3


	9. Ghost Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An angel and a demon walk into a cultist house...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here is a chapter I hope will make you laugh, or at least--blow air harshly out of your nose in amusement ehee ;)

Hyunjin and Jisung walked side by side through an uncharacteristically dark, quiet street of Seoul. It was one way Jisung knew they were nearing the old abandoned cult building, if his impeccable memory and sense of direction wasn’t enough.

Jisung’s footsteps fell heavy in his combat boots, dragging across the graveled ground. Hyunjin didn’t say anything either, walking with the posture of a pencil, eyes vigilant as they took in their surroundings. It looked like the angel was waiting for an attack at any moment.

“Chill, Hyunjin, the Satanists aren’t exactly harmful to us considering we’re, ya know,” Jisung made little horns with his fingers and a circle above his head to portray his thoughts.

Hyunjin scoffed, “I’m not—worried about the Satanists.” The angel said haughtily, clearly, he was. Jisung slung an arm over his shoulder, which was a little awkward considering the angel was taller than him.

“Don’t worry Hyunnie, I’ll protect you.” Jisung teased, enjoying the scowl it brought to Hyunjin’s face, until it reminded him of a similar expression Minho liked to make. He let his arm slip off Hyunjin’s shoulder.

“I’m guessing that’s the place?” A tinge of disgust was evident in Hyunjin’s voice as the duo stopped in front of the same dilapidated, molding house. It’s charred looking exterior somehow even worse than last week, like someone had taken a fresh coat of gasoline to torch it for that perfect, house fire look.

“How’d you guess?” Jisung joked, hopping up the front steps. The wooden steps looked seconds away from splintering into dust flakes altogether. Hyunjin primly walked up behind him.

Jisung pushed the door open easily with a single finger, walking in backwards as he shot Hyunjin a grin. “Step right in, your holiness, it’s about to get a lot _less_ holy up in here.”

The place was as dark, if not darker, than it had been last week. Of course, that wasn’t really a problem for the duo with their natural night vision and all. Jisung led Hyunjin towards the door the cultist had popped out of last time, but Hyunjin grabbed his arm, stopping him short.

“Someone’s in here.” The angel murmured, his eyes staring to glow the faint blue of heavenly light.

Jisung rolled his own, “Yeah, Hyunjin. The _Satanists_.”

“No, it’s not that,” But Hyunjin never finished, instead creeping away from the direction they’d been headed, turning down a random hallway off to the right. Jisung sighed, though he was more curious than anything, so he tiptoe ran after the angel.

“Who is it?” Jisung whispered only for the angel to shush him aggressively. “Geez, okay.” Jisung held up both hands in mock surrender. “After you, Feathers.”

The two crept along the hallway, keeping to the shadowed edge, until Jisung heard it too, the sound of footsteps and muffled voices up ahead. The demon activated his “investigative mode,” eyes and ears tuned up to the best of their ability. The noise was coming from the total opposite direction of the Satanists.

Hyunjin froze suddenly, causing Jisung to narrowly miss bumping into him. He was just about to ask what was wrong when the angel’s shocked voice said, “I think it’s—”

Just then two figures turned down the same hallway, and the two groups stared at each other in shock. The boy, Jisung didn’t know, but the angel he sure did. A demonic growl subconsciously came from within him, eyes flashing black in anger.

“What the Hell are you doing here?” The demon grit out, fists tightening at his side.

Jaehyun crossed his arms over his chest, his look of shock morphing to one of amusement.

“Well wonders never cease. An unlikely duo, don’t you think?” Jaehyun asked, pointing between Jisung and Hyunjin. They may have been unlikely, but their shared anger towards the former leader of angels rooted them strongly together. Jisung saw a flash of silver out of the corner of his eye. Hyunjin had summoned his angel blade.

“We asked you a question.” Hyunjin bit out, his eyes glowing in intensity.

“Friends of yours?” The human boy asked, he had a gun pointed at the two, a stark contrast from his doe eyes as they flitted between the three supernatural beings. If he wasn’t with Jaehyun, Jisung might have found him handsome, but right now, anyone on Jaehyun’s side was his enemy.

Jaehyun sighed, “I supposed they’d disagree.”

“You’re fucking right I dis—“ Jisung started forward, but Hyunjin held out his arm to keep him from charging at the angel.

“We’re not here to fight,” Hyunjin told Jisung. The demon shot him a look. “Okay, maybe we are, but not Jaehyun.”

“I promised Minho if I ever saw his face again, I’d make sure he didn’t leave with it.” Jisung grit out, his anger boiling up in his chest like a kettle. That was the thing about demons, they were quick to get angry, quick to jump into a fight.

“As much as I’d love to see your face get beaten, I’m here for the cult.” The human boy said exasperatedly, lowering his gun. "I'm Jeon Jungkook, I work for the police."

“You’re his charge.” Hyunjin said to the boy, though his eyes kept drifting back to Jaehyun, like he was worried Jaehyun would attack at any moment, or maybe he just couldn’t believe the angel was actually there.

The human, Jungkook, scoffed. “His?” He jabbed a thumb in Jaehyun’s direction. “Hardly an angel, I’d say, but apparently he’s supposed to be protecting me.” He made air quotes around the word “protecting.”

Jisung barked out in amused laughter, “Hey, maybe I do like this guy after all.”

Hyunjin straightened, his blade disappearing from his hand. Jisung hoped it wasn’t a premature sense of safety.

Jaehyun sighed before asking, “How’s Seungmin?”

Hyunjin bristled by Jisung’s side. Jisung reared up again, ready to fight.

“You don’t get to ask about Seungmin.” Hyunjin snapped curtly.

“Look, I get your angry, but I _am_ the one who saved him, after all.”

Jisung did not appreciate the pleading look on the angel’s face. "You saved jack shit.” He countered.

“Guys—” Jungkook said lowly, he was looking somewhere behind him.

“Without me, Seungmin would still be dead.” Jaehyun shot back, his eyes had started to glow too. It was like two heavenly flashlights, lighting up the unholy house.

“Without you, Seungmin wouldn’t have been dead in the first place!” Hyunjin bit back, looking like he was ready to summon his blade again.

“GUYS!” Jungkook hissed angrily.

“WHAT?” All three of them snapped at him, meeting the human’s stormy doe eyes.

“Someone else is here.” The human said.

“What is this, a party?” Jisung lamented as they all pushed themselves back into the shadows. Two other humans with cameras came into view.

“So far, there’s been no signs of anything.” One of the humans said in a dramatic voice that was clearly fabricated.

“Speak for yourself, I’m pretty sure that family of rats back there was definitely _something_.” The second human said, kicking what sounded like a rock as it skittered across the floor.

“This is lame. The ghouls are too scared to show themselves to us, aren’t they?” Human one laughed easily.

“Don’t provoke them!” his friend hissed angrily.

“They shouldn’t be here,” Jungkook said, making to start forwards, but Jisung pulled him back.

“Hold on.” The demon said as he listened to human one start to taunt demons. It wasn’t helping his earlier anger calm down much, in fact, it was only adding fuel to the fire. He couldn’t help but feel personally attacked at his degrading words.

“They want some demons? I’ll show them a fucking demon.” Jisung said, grinning at the prospect of being able to mess with a pompous human.

“Sung,” Hyunjin sounded annoyed.

“You guys go on; I’ll deal with them.” Jisung jerked his head for the rest to leave, which they eventually did, though Jungkook had to be quite literally pulled away by Jaehyun. Jisung cracked his knuckles, now it was time to have a little fun.

“Demons? Demons! Come out come out wherever you are!” Human one sang into the _seemingly_ empty house.

“Shut up Tae—” Human two hissed. Jisung was quick, he ran along the shadows nearby them, making sure the humans couldn’t physically see him, but that they _could_ feel him.

“Whoa—did you feel that?” Human two asked sounding uneasy. Jisung grinned, ready to give the amateur ghost hunters a run for their money _._

“Psh, that was just the wind.” Human one said, shooting his camera at the ceiling. “Hey, look at this! The ceiling is ratchet man; it’s covered in cobwebs!”

 _Part two,_ Jisung thought, creeping up right behind human two, close enough to breath on his ear. The boy jumped.

“Holy, fucking shit!” He exclaimed, jumping several feet into the air as his hand clasped over his ear. “Something blew in my ear, man!”

“Oooo,” Tae teased, “Ghost trying to get frisky?”

_Frisky? I could work with that._

Jisung dashed over so he was now behind the pompous one, leaning in to whisper, “I could think of one thing that mouth of yours would be better doing instead.”

The human stiffened, Jisung let out an audible giggle before zooming away.

“YOU HEARD IT TOO! I KNOW YOU DID!” Human two yelled, his camera hand shaking as he pointed accusingly at his friend.

“S—shut up, Minnie! It’s just someone messing with us.” The boy growled. “Alright, Ha ha very funny! You can come out now!”

Jisung picked up a random slab of wood by his feet, letting it slam loudly to the floor. The humans screamed.

“I t—think we should go, Taehyung!” The fear was evident on Human two’s face, as he tugged on his friend’s arm urgently.

“Hold _on,_ I’m not leaving until whoever it is shows themselves!” The boy stomped his foot like Changbin did when he was having a tantrum.

“Show myself? Are you sure you can handle that?” Jisung weaved between the two as he spoke in an exaggerated whisper, hoping they’d be able to feel the subtle air of his movements around them.

“That’s it, I’m out!” Human two screamed, the boy all but ran towards the entrance. Jisung could have let him go, but he was having too much fun. It was times like these when he truly enjoyed being a demon. With a flick of his wrist the front door slammed shut, causing both boys to scream and curse.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?” Human two pleaded.

“A little respect would be nice.” Jisung mused, extremely entertained by the way the boys’ eyes whipped around the room, trying to find the source of his voice.

“W—we’re sorry!” Human two spoke up, “Taehyung! Say you’re sorry!” He hissed.

“I’m not gonna apologize to a _ghost!_ He doesn’t even have the guts to show himself, COWARD!” Taehyung yelled back. Oh, he was asking for it.

Human two cursed, “Oh my fucking god, holy shit, you’re going to get us _killed!”_

Jisung stared at their cameras, if he was going to show himself, he wasn’t about to leave behind any evidence.

“M—my camera!” Human two stuttered. “It went dead!”

“Huh, mine too—“ Taehyung said, tapping the dead equipment, sounding perhaps the slightest bit more uneasy.

Jisung stood so he was a few feet from the humans, arms clasped behind his back. He was only going to give them a little scare. He made only his face visible in the dark, black demon eyes on full display.

“Boo.” Jisung said, and the look of absolute terror that passed through both their faces was enough to fuel Jisung for decades. The humans screamed bloody murder and turned tail to book it out the now open front door. Jisung cackled happily in their wake.

 _Fucking ghost hunters,_ He thought, not without amusement. Sometimes they just had to be put in their place. 

The sound of footsteps came from behind him, the demon turned around smugly to see Hyunjin, Jaehyun, and Jungkook jogging over to him.

“Jisung, what did you do?” Hyunjin asked warily.

“Nothing! I didn’t hurt them, I just—gave them what they asked for.” Jisung shrugged, picking off a nonexistent piece of lint from his shoulder. “Why are you guys here? Are cult activities over already?”

“They’re not here.” Jungkook said, running a tattooed hand exasperatedly through his hair. Jisung stared at it a little longer, extremely enraptured by the black ink tracing over the human’s skin. It was undeniable sexy (don’t tell Minho he thought that, or maybe—do), but Jisung also thought the symbols looked rather familiar—

“Wait—they’re not here?” Jisung questioned, mind catching up to the boy’s words.

“Though it’s definitely the place alright.” Jungkook said, holding out a photo. It showed the same basement Jisung had seen last time he’d been there. The salt pentagram drawn on the floor, the same, dingy, leaking basement.

“Maybe they moved locations?” Hyunjin suggested.

“But—why? This is where the ley lines converge, it’s the strongest place to be able to call forth a higher-level demon, especially if they’re calling Lucifer.” Jisung reasoned. There was no way the cultists would leave a place with such a high source of energy.

“Then—where are they?” Jaehyun asked, sounding not at all interested.

“Maybe they took this Tuesday off?” Jisung offered.

“Or maybe, they couldn’t find anyone to sacrifice.” Jungkook’s grim voice settled over them like a cold blanket. “Maybe they’re searching for someone right now.”

“We should try to find them.” Hyunjin said. Jungkook nodded once in agreeance. Jisung supposed he’d have to tag along, though he wasn’t too thrilled about it if Jaehyun was _also_ coming.

“Does he have to be here?” Jisung asked Jungkook as the four took to the streets.

“I ask myself the same question.”

Jisung wasn’t sure how they were supposed to find a bunch of wayward cultists. Perhaps they’d get lucky and the cultists would be wearing their dark robes outside. That should be easy enough to spot. Just 10 guys in stereotypical grim reaper robes, nothing to see here.

Jaehyun and Hyunjin were a few feet ahead, the tension between the two thick enough to cut with an angel blade, or maybe even a strong stare from Jeongin would do the trick. The kid had a natural sharp glare, what could he say?

“I think we should split up.” Hyunjin voted, as they came to the end of the first street with not a single cultist in sight. “We’ll cover more ground that way.”

“Agreed.” Jisung and Jungkook said immediately, both staring at Jaehyun in disdain.

Jaehyun rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’d love to get rid of me, but unfortunately for both of us, I can’t leave your side.” He pinned Jungkook with a glare that could almost rival Jeongin’s. Jisung might have be impressed if he didn’t despise the angel.

“Okay, then Jungkookie with Jaehyun, and Hyunjin with me!” Jisung said happily. As long as he wasn’t with that back stabber.

“Jungkookie?” Jungkook repeated, a befuddled expression on his face.

“You can call me hyung.” Jisung said with a wink before skipping to link arms with Hyunjin.

Jungkook scoffed, “I’m no detective, but you’re clearly a lot younger than me.”

“You’re literally a cop,” Jaehyun pointed out at the same time Jisung said, “Am I?” and flashed Jungkook his demon eyes. The human stumbling back into Jaehyun’s chest (neither of them looked very happy about it).

“Holy shit, you’re a demon.” Jungkook said, his doe eyes back on full display.

“Guilty.” Jisung smiled innocently, raising a hand in the air.

“You shouldn’t—aren’t you angels? Why are you working with—?”

To their surprise, it was Jaehyun who cut him off. “Demons aren’t what you’re taught about in catholic school,”

“I actually don’t _have_ a religion—” Jungkook started, but Jaehyun barreled on.

“Things aren’t as black and white in the real world. In this case, or as I’m sure those two would agree, _I’m_ the bad guy.”

“It’s true.” Hyunjin nodded.

“Horrible guy.” Jisung agreed.

“The worst.” Hyunjin emphasized.

“ _Okay_ ,” came Jaehyun’s curt voice, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I _think_ he gets it.”

“Just making sure—” Hyunjin threw his hands up in the air, at the same moment a literal ball of fire lit up the night sky in the near distance. They all stood gaping at it in awe.

“That wasn’t me.” Hyunjin quickly defended.

“That—wasn’t natural.” Jisung unnecessarily pointed out.

“The cultists.” Jungkook said confidently, turning to run in the fireball’s quickly dissipating direction. Jaehyun sighed as he turned to run after him.

“I don’t think cultists have the power to do that.” Jisung frowned as he and Hyunjin stared up at the embers only they could see from this distance, falling from the sky like the volcano of Pompeii had just erupted. (Jisung hadn’t been around at that time, but he’d heard the stories. Apparently, it had been triggered by demons messing around on the inside. _Classic.)_

Hyunjin shrugged, “Whatever it is, it’s demonic, and it isn’t good.”

The two took off after the other’s, weaving their way through the empty night streets of Seoul.

~

Jeongin couldn’t believe his luck, _kicked out of my own home, and with nowhere to go._

Perhaps the pubescent demon was exaggerating just a bit, he’d voluntarily left, after all, and it wasn’t like Seungmin and Minho would be relationship talking forever, right?

Jeongin gulped, he didn’t want to come back to them delving into Minho and Jisung’s sex life. Jeongin didn’t think his innocent heart could handle that.

_Innocent my ass, like you weren’t French kissing Hyunjin in bed just last week._

_Oh shut up, inner me._ Jeongin thought bitterly, raising his fist menacingly. A couple of human girls eyed him a few feet away, giggling behind their hands as they hurried past him.

Jeongin sighed, shoving his fist back into his coat pocket. Human were so weird.

Jeongin really didn’t know where to go to kill time until Seungmin and Minho’s pillow talk was over, so he just kept walking in a straight line until a path leading off to what looked like a forest park caught is attention.

He demon took a sharp turn in a last-minute decision, hopping happily down the path. Though humans may be weird, trees and animals were amazing. His favorite were the little brown animals with bushy tails and cheeks that were shocking identical to Jisung’s. He’s snapped a picture once to show his hyung the uncanny resemblance, to which Jisung had adamantly denied, and Minho had whole-heartedly cackled (and then secretly asked Jeongin to send him the picture afterwards.)

A burst of excitement came over him. _Maybe I’ll see another little Jisung today!_

The demon veered off track of the trail, the fluffy creatures were always where the humans weren’t, so he figured he’d have a better chance in the thick of it.

Jeongin’s feet crunched on the leafy undergrowth as he pushed past branches and stepped over tree roots through the dark, or it would have been dark, if he wasn’t a demon. Everything was clear as day to him, he could see the spider webs that clung in the grooves of the tree roots, the birds that hopped from branch to branch overhead, even a few unidentified flying bugs—UFB’s, but no little Jisungs.

Jeongin frowned, perhaps he’d have to climb a tree to find one, so he did just that. He still wasn’t sure exactly what kind of demon he was, but it was clear he was some part feline at least, if his cat like ears and second demonic form meant anything, and climbing came easily to demonic felines such as himself. At least, that’s what he’d concluded after easily scaling a 30-foot tree, plopping himself lightly on a branch that overlooked a wide sidewalk on the other side of the clearing.

There were no little Jisungs in the tree he’d climbed, sadly, but he did get a good view of the street down below. There weren’t many humans out at that late at night, but a few joggers occasionally ran past. They looked like mere ants from his standpoint, Jeongin was very amused by the sight.

It was calming, being this high up off the ground, the wind rustling the leaves around him, the city lights spread out below him like a blanket of stars. An owl hooted somewhere near him. He hooted back. The owl’s hoots cut off sharply like he’d been offended by Jeongin’s hoots.

Jeongin closed his eyes in content, basking in the fresh, human air—only to hear some muffled arguing from below him. He focused on the sounds, trying to make out the words.

“Shut up, Chanyeol, I told you your stupid ads won’t work.”

“They worked last time!”

“No they didn’t! They just brought us new members who didn’t even bother to show up this week.”

“At least someone saw the ads though!”

“You’re impossible.”

Jeongin didn’t understand what they were talking about, but he was amused, nonetheless. It reminded him of when Jisung and Changbin bickered. A sudden pang of longing made him frown. Where was Changbin? Jeongin hadn’t seen him in a while now. He hoped the demon was alright, probably up in Heaven somewhere with Felix now that he thought about it. At least some things were going well.

“Shhh, there’s a girl coming. We could use her.”

“How do you know if she’s a virgin?”

“At this point, does it even matter? On my signal—”

 _Wait,_ Jeongin frowned suspiciously, _that doesn’t seem right._

A muffled scream jolted him into action, the demon’s eyes widening as he leaned over to see a girl being attacked by two cloaked figures that look like they’d stepped out of Hell themselves.

 _Demons._ Jeongin’s eyes narrowed as he teleported himself down to the ground. He threw a quick punch at demon number one, and kneed demon number two right in the gut. They both went down like falling acorns, groaning in pain.

“Go, run!” Jeongin told the girl, helping her up from where she’d fallen to the ground. The girl didn’t need to be told twice, booking it back towards civilization. Jeongin let out a breath. _I guess my outing wasn’t for naught._

“What are you two doing?” Jeongin asked accusingly, arms folded across his chest as he stared at their writhing bodies.

“Whoa, chill dude! We’re not here to hurt anyone!” one of them said.

“Yes we were.” The other one said indignantly.

“Oh for the love of Satan, shut _up_ Chanyeol!”

“Who sent you?” Jeongin questioned again, getting increasingly annoyed by the demons.

“Sent us? W—what makes you think someone sent us?” The one that seemed to be named Chanyeol spoke.

“And why are you wearing grim reaper robes?” Jeongin waved a finger that the demon’s garb. “That was so last century.”

“Excuse you, this is the finest of cultist couture.” The one not named Chanyeol said.

“Cultist?” Jeongin took in their faces as they pushed the hoods off their heads, eyes widening in realization. They weren’t demons at all, they were humans.

“You’re cultists.” Jeongin said. _The_ cultists, probably. The very one’s Hyunjin and Jisung had gone to stop.

“But—aren’t you supposed to have a ritual tonight? Why are you out here?” Jeongin couldn’t help but ask.

Not Chanyeol narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Jeongin, “Why do you seem to know so much about us? You’re not part of our cult.”

“Yeah, we’re not telling you anything. It’s a cult only knowledge.” Chanyeol said haughtily. Jeongin rolled his eyes at the two, before flashing his demonic black eyes at them. They gasped, jerking away in shock.

“Y—you’re a demon.” Not Chanyeol breathed.

“No _dur_ , so tell me, what does _Lucifer_ want from you?” Jeongin asked, whisper hissing the demon's name.

If his hyungs were about to stumble upon an empty satanic ritual, then at least Jeongin could get some answers for them. The humans bickered between themselves,

“We can’t tell him! It’s supposed to be a secret!”

“But he’s a demon too! Aren’t they all on the same side?”

“If we’re wrong, Lucifer will kill us!”

“He might kill us anyways if we don’t find what he’s looking for! Maybe this guy can help!”

“Umm guys, I am right here you know.” Jeongin said flatly. They exchanged one last look before Chanyeol turned back to him.

“He’s looking for a crown.”

“A crown? What kind of crown?”

Chanyeol shrugged, “We don’t know, he didn’t tell us.”

“Well does it at least have a name?” Jeongin inquired.

“Err, something like garden slab? Fish—hmm it was definitely something with that vibe…”

“It’s Golden Fillet, you idiot!” Not Chanyeol said, smacking Chanyeol on the back of the head. The latter whined rubbing the spot dejectedly.

“Golden Fillet,” Jeongin mused. It sounded vaguely familiar, but he’d have to check with Chan on that. “Why is he looking for a crown? Is he trying to up his wardrobe or something?” Jeongin didn’t like the way the two humans looked up at him, eyes gleaming in the way only crazy people’s eyes gleamed. Like they had seen the future, and they liked what they saw.

“He’s preparing to for a new king.”

Jeongin scoffed, “That’s a load of bull shit. Chan hyung is king, and Lucifer would never make it as King of Hell, that’s ridiculous.” Jeongin said defiantly.

Chanyeol shook his head at him, eyes still gleaming with an intensity Jeongin found unnerving. “It’s not Lucifer who’s going to be king.”

Jeongin’s confusion only grew, “Then who—?”

“Lucifer has a son.”

Jeongin froze, every inch of his being hypersensitive to the point he felt like he could feel each individual goose bump as they raised along his arms.

“That’s—”

“Soon the world will be worshiping a new king, a new _God_ , one with more power that that puny deity upstairs.” Not Chanyeol spoke reverently.

“No, no,” Jeongin sputtered, denying it to the end, “That’s not going to happen. His son can’t be some _new God—_ ”

“Oh, he will. Lucifer said he’d make sure of it.” Chanyeol’s grin was sickening. Jeongin felt sick, his insides were churning, his ears were ringing with a white noise that only seemed to grow louder.

“Hey man, are you okay?” one of them called to him, but he wasn’t listening, a burn had started to spread across his skin, like a switch had been flicked inside of him, letting loose the very flames he’d practiced so hard to keep under wraps.

“Oh man holy shi—!” Were the last words either of the two uttered, before Jeongin let loose a fireball big enough to light up the night sky like fireworks, instantly cremating the two humans who stood far too close to the fiery demon. Jeongin sunk to his knees at the outburst. His hand shaking as he tried to reign his powers in.

 _This is too much power, too much,_ Jeongin’s frazzled brain thought. He could feel the embers of his fireball falling back onto him, sizzling past his ears, settling into his hair. A few small pieces of the cultists black robes had scattered in the wind, it looked like a mini atomic bomb had gone off. The ground within a 10-foot radius of Jeongin completely charred, even a few plants had caught fire near the tree line.

Jeongin shivered despite being encased by burning flames. His eyesight went fuzzy, fading black and red at the edges.

_A new God is coming, Lucifer’s own son._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jisung had to do it to 'em
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	10. Quench the flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jeongin shares the news, and Changlix return

When the four arrived to the scene, they were stunned by what they saw. Hyunjin called out Jeongin’s name frantically, him and Jisung raced over to the demon who laid limp on the ground. A few burning embers still scattered on top of him, like fireflies in the night of his dark blue skin. 

Hyunjin had tried shaking Jeongin back into consciousness, Jisung repeatedly calling his name, but the demon wouldn’t budge. They shared dismayed looks with each other. Other than their shared hatred for Jaehyun? Was their shared love for Innie.

“Who is that? What happened here?” Jungkook’s incredulous voice spoke as he took in the charred circle around them. Jaehyun stood near the burning plants, seeming fascinated by them.

“Jaehyun!” Jungkook yelled at the angel, who jumped at the sudden call of his name, rolled his eyes, and went to put out the small forest fire. 

“We have to get him back home.” Hyunjin said, grabbing hold of Jeongin’s arm, Jisung followed suit.

“Is anyone going to explain this to me?” Jungkook asked exasperatedly, tattooed hand poised on his hip.

“If you want to come with us.” Jisung bargained, eyeing the human. “If you’re up for it.”

“If he goes, then I’m coming too.” Jaehyun said, walking over to them leaving a line of steaming, extinguished bushes behind him. 

“Oh, no way, you are _not_ coming with.” Jisung shook his head, mouth in a thin line of “no.”

“We have to bring Jeongin back! Jisung,” Hyunjin pleaded, and the demon gave in.

“Alright _fine_ , but I’m not holding _his_ hand.”

Jungkook could barely let out the start of a question before the five of them were transported back to Hyunjin’s small apartment, effectively startling Seungmin and Minho from their cuddle session on the couch.

“WHAT THE F—” Minho stopped short when he saw Jeongin’s unconscious body now laid out on their tiny table.

“What happened?” Seungmin exclaimed, pushing off the couch to place a worried hand on Jeongin’s soot covered cheek.

“We don’t know.” Hyunjin’s said, strained, as the angel rung his hands together. Then came Jungkook dry heaving in the background. Human’s had a varying experience with teleporting. 

“Did we just—?” But the human never finished his sentence when his wide eyes met Minho’s.

“Jungkook hyung?”

“Minho?”

“You two know each other?” Jisung frowned.

“He’s my cousin!” Minho said. Everyone’s jaws dropped.

“Well, not blood related, obviously.” Minho said, gesturing to himself. “I am adopted, after all.”

“I haven’t seen you in ages, Min! Where’ve you been?” It was the first time Jaehyun had seen Jungkook smile, and he was exceedingly annoyed to see it looked good on the human. His whole face lighting up like a child who’d just been given candy.

The two cousins embraced happily over a comatose Jeongin, which was a weird scene to take in, though Jaehyun couldn’t really find sympathy to care. He was sure the demon would be fine. Demons were resilient, like cockroaches. That was one of the things he liked about them.

“Oh you know, here and there.” Minho shrugged, “In the depths of Hell, the ‘ushe.”

“What?” Jungkook’s grin seemed frozen onto his face.

“Your cousin’s half demon, man.” Jisung’s voice came from where he sulked on the couch.

“You’re _what?!”_

Minho shot Jisung look. “Yeah, it came as a shock to me too.”

Hyunjin gasped behind them, “He’s coming to!”

They all crowded over the demon, his cat ears starting to twitch atop his head as his eyebrows scrunched together, eyes flickering open to squint in the light.

“What—?” But then the demon bolted upright, a fearful look in his eyes, “No! Get back,” Jeongin demanded, a lick of flame started to burn along his skin. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Everyone instinctively took a step back—except for Seungmin.

“Jeonginie, calm down, sweetie.” Seungmin tried to soothe, “Why don’t we fix you up, first? And then you can tell us later what hap—“ Jeongin’s wild eyes cut Seungmin off. The Nephilim gulped, outstretched hands frozen between them. The demon’s flames started to travel up his arms.

“Innie,” Hyunjin started, “Whatever happened, it’s okay—”

“ _No_ ,” Jeongin grit out, “It’s really _not_.” The flames had caught onto his hair, which miraculously didn’t singe away. Jaehyun was fascinated.

“In—” Seungmin reached out again but Jeongin pushed himself backwards and away, promptly falling off the table, and catching a blanket on fire.

Jisung yelped, quickly putting the fire out by stomping on it before it could grow.

“Jeongin, baby, calm down—deep breaths!” Hyunjin said, walking towards Jeongin like one might a wounded stray cat.

Jeongin took in visible breaths, but it was clear he was still panicking. Seungmin had reached his side before anyone noticed.

“Seung—no!” Jeongin said, but it was too late, Seungmin wrapped himself around Jeongin, a _flaming Jeongin,_ in a hug. Everyone sucked in a breath, but to their utter surprise, instead of the Nephilim catching on fire, Jeongin’s flames were instantly put out.

Well, to everyone’s surprise—but Jaehyun’s. Seungmin was a Nephilim after all, he probably had more power than everyone in this room combined.

Hyunjin gaped at the two, even Jeongin seemed shocked, his eyes darting back and forth in wonder.

“Seungmin—how did you—?” but Seungmin cut Jeongin off,

“You were about to set our apartment on fire, I don’t think our security deposit convers demonic induced fires, In.” Seungmin teased. If he was surprised at his own ability, he didn’t show it.

Jeongin shook his head incredulously, but melted into the Nephilim’s embrace. Everyone else seemed to deflate in relief around him, Jaehyun watched on curiously.

“So—what happened?” Jisung was the first to speak up. Jeongin’s eyes drifted to him.

“I—ran into the cultists. They were about to attack a human girl, but I stopped them.”

“That’s why they weren’t there, they didn’t have a sacrifice.” Jisung murmured in thought.

“I thought they were demons at first, but—they told me what Lucifer is looking for.” Jeongin said. Seungmin pulled away, his hands sturdy on Jeongin’s shoulders.

“They did?” Hyunjin asked, curiosity thinly veiled. Jeongin nodded, glancing up at the angel.

“They’re looking for a crown, but then they said—” Jeongin looked down at the ground, seeming worried, or nervous. Maybe both. 

“What did they say, In?” Seungmin prompted. Jeongin turned to look at him, eyes troubled.

“They said—Lucifer is preparing for a new—king,” a lick of flame caught onto his ear, which Seungmin quickly reached out to extinguish. Jaehyun watched the action in intrigue.

“A new king? Of what? Hell?” Hyunjin questioned.

“Chan hyungs already king. If Lucifer thinks he can be king, that he has what it takes to dethrone Chan--then he’s got another thing coming.” Jisung said with a scowl.

Jeongin shook his head, “No, you don’t understand, _he_ doesn’t want to be king. They said—they said it’s his son.” The last words were so faint a few of them had to lean forward to hear.

“His—son?” Jaehyun finally spoke up, everyone turned to him, like they’d forgotten he was there, leaning against the wall. _Nothing but a fly on the wall, I suppose._

Jisung however, looked rather faint. “Fucking Hell,” The demon cursed, plopping backwards onto the couch. He clutched the smoldering blanket in his hands.

 _So it’s true, Lucifer has a son._ Jaehyun thought, taking in the scene before him. No one said anything else, like the matter was so big no one dared to tackle it, not now. Jaehyun supposed it was a big matter, but it wasn’t so much a surprise to hear the news.

He’d suspected it back in the Miroh, when Jeongin had all but melted the portal to District 9 with ease. No one should have been able to release that much power. And then that night, the giant fireball the demon had sent off—it was nothing short of unrestrained _power._

Jaehyun’s gaze traveled back to Seungmin. He and Hyunjin were helping Jeongin up, taking the demon over to what he assumed must be a bathroom. There was a faint, almost tangible charged energy that emanated around the Nephilim. The way he had easily put out Jeongin’s fire—fire that had _melted_ the portal to District 9—there was no denying it.

Seungmin was inherently more powerful now than Jeongin, perhaps even mkre powerful than one of the Seven Princes of Hell, Lucifer himself.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Jungkook spoke up beside him. Jaehyun side eyed the human, he supposed he had a lot to explain tonight, _if I decide to explain anything to him at all._

“Heaven and Hell drama, nothing you really need to concern yourself with.” Jaehyun said dismissively. He could see Minho staring at them, the boy kept making a step towards them, only to take one back again.

Jungkook opened his mouth as if to say more, but Jaehyun didn’t feel like saying anymore. He nodded his head towards Minho.

“It seems someone’s wanting to talk to you.” Jaehyun said. Jungkook turned to catch Minho’s eyes, and his features went soft, mouth tilting upwards at the corners, and Jaehyun felt a little pang in his heart. _A very unwanted pang, thank you very much_.

The guardian angel chose to scowl instead, watching as Jungkook and Minho easily settled into a conversation. His eyes drifted to Jisung, who was sulking from his spot on the oyher side of the couch. The demon had conjured a dagger out of nowhere and was currently sharpening it with a rather large rock (Jaehyun had no idea where that had come from either).

Jisung would look up occasionally every time Minho would laugh, only to go back to sharpening with a pout on his lips, looking more like a kicked puppy than a “scary” demon.

Jaehyun felt out of place. He was overly aware of everyone’s hatred towards him. He understood that Seungmin dying was _partly_ his fault, but it wasn’t like he’d killed the human himself! He'd had no control over that shapeshifter, and Jaehyun had brought Seungmin back, didn’t he?

And Seungmin was _amazing_ , his powers only barely tapped and look what he’d already been able to do! Just imagine what they could do at his full capacity!

Another bout of frustration rolled over him. What they should be doing now was testing out the extent of Seungmin's powers. He was their secret weapon in this, keeping him hidden away in a shabby human apartment wasn’t going to do anyone any good.

Jaehyun considered going to Chan about this—but the thought of facing the demon king again churned his stomach the wrong way. He didn’t know how Chan would react, he didn’t know what he could do to fix it, to fix _them._

Jaehyun sighed, _So Lucifer wants to make his son the new king. Jeongin, no doubt._ But Chan was already king, and Jaehyun knew the demon wouldn’t give up his spot so easily, but if it was against _Jeongin—_

Jaehyun couldn’t say for sure what would happen, but if he knew one thing, it was that there was no way Chan would let anyone he loved get hurt. Chan would go so far as to sacrifice himself if it came down to it, and Jaehyun _wouldn’t let that happen._

~

Felix had never felt so helpless in his life as he had while being forced to watch Changbin be killed by that sorry excuse of a king. It took everything in him to stop himself from intervening. He’d heard Changbin’s prayer loud and clear, _Don’t interfere, or there may not be a me to go back to._

Anger bubbled inside Felix with the same, hot intensity that it had when he’d found out Changbin had been assaulted as a captive of the shapeshifter.

 _Why do such horrible things always have to happen to you, Bin?_ Felix thought with frustration, angry that he failed to protect him again and again.

Changbin didn’t deserve any of what had happened to him. The king’s words were like nails to the chalkboard of Felix’s soul. He’d utterly detested every word with a passion that could rival the fires of Hell. The only person worthless in his opinion, was the king, and the prince for letting Chaebin die. The prince should have fought harder, he should have kept a better secret, he should have—

_He should have been me._

Felix didn’t fully understand what Changbin was feeling, he wouldn’t pretend that he did, but an anxious feeling had bloomed inside him the moment they’d returned to their time, and Changbin had said nothing.

He didn’t cry, he didn’t get angry, he didn’t even meet Felix’s eyes. The demon simply stood there, one hand hooked on his other arm as he stared at the ground looking like he felt out of place, out of _time_.

“Binnie, do you want to talk about it?” Felix gingerly asked the boy. He wanted to hug Changbin, but the second he took a step forward, Changbin took one back. Felix stopped short, his frown deepening.

“No.” Changbin eventually said. Felix couldn’t read him; it wasn’t the first time he wished his mind reading powers extended to the supernatural as well. He wanted to help Changbin, but he didn’t know _how_.

“Bin—” Felix tried again, Changbin snapped his head up then, and his expression made Felix fall short.

“I said I don’t want to talk about it!” Changbin grit out. His watery eyes looked defeated, heartbroken, and Felix couldn’t help but feel like some of it was directed towards him.

Felix gulped, “I won’t force you to, Bin, I just—I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Changbin scoffed, “Sure, I’m fine. Not a scratch on me, see?” He lifted the hem of his shirt so Felix could see the smooth planes of his torso. Not a knife wound in sight, though that wasn’t what Felix had been referring to by “okay.”

“Bin,”

“Stop it.” Changbin said softly.

“Stop what?”

“Stop acting like I’m fragile. I’m a demon for fucks sakes.” Changbin spat, eyes flashing black in his outburst.

“I—” _Never thought you were fragile,_ died on Felix’s lips. It wasn’t true, after all. Changbin _was_ fragile, at least to Felix. He couldn’t help it. He wanted to wrap Changbin in an indestructible-by-any-magic bubble wrap and keep him by his side always so Changbin could never get hurt again.

Felix wasn’t sure how much more his heart could take of watching Changbin fall over, and over.

Changbin gave a dry laugh, “You’re easier to read than you think, Felix, but I just—I just want to go _home_.”

Felix started towards him again, this time Changbin didn’t move away. “We are ho—”

“I want to go to _home,_ to Hell.” Changbin snapped, jerking himself out of Felix’s touch. It felt like a physical burn to the angel. “It’s where I belong anyways.” Changbin muttered. Felix’s heart dropped all the way down to earth.

“Binnie, if this is about what that king said—”

“What about what he said?” Changbin had a pained grin marring his pretty features. “It was all true anyways.”

Felix sucked in a sharp breath, “Changbin—”

“I’ll see you around, Felix.” Changbin muttered, before promptly disappearing in a swath of shadows.

Felix’s hands tightened into fists, _god_ he hated feeling like this, like there was nothing he could do to make it better. He’d give Changbin some time, but Felix couldn’t wait forever, _wouldn’t_ wait forever. Not after what happened the last time Changbin stormed out.

Felix decided to put his pent-up energy to use. He strode out of his bedroom towards his office. He wasn’t sure how long they’d been gone, but hopefully time didn’t run too differently while they were in the past.

He ran into Jihyo on the way.

“Felix! There you are! We’ve been looking for you everywhere!” The angel exclaimed, sounding a little annoyed.

“Sorry, something urgent came up.” Felix dismissed, pushing his way into his office. Jihyo was right on his heels. “Anything happen while I was away? How’s Jaehyun?”

“I meet with him tomorrow for his weekly report,” Jihyo said, “But Felix—we caught something unusual that happened in the human realm.”

Felix turned back towards the angel, “What?”

“There was a giant burst of—something. We’re not really sure what it was, but it was definitely demonic.”

Felix shrugged, “That happens a lot.”

“But this is different.” Jihyo shook her head, “It only lasted for a little more than a few seconds, and then—nothing. And with that amount of dark energy—it’s practically unheard of!”

Felix frowned, usually peaks in demonic activity meant only that there was an increase in demons all conglomerating in the same area, and they’d send someone down to break up the demonic party.

He hadn’t talked to his demon friends, asides from Changbin, in a while. Maybe they would have more of an idea to what was going on.

Felix nodded, “Don’t worry, Jihyo. I’ll talk to Chan and see if he knows anything.”

Jihyo scowled, clearly not liking the idea of Felix meeting with the King of Hell, but in their line of work, it was inevitable not to cross paths with their demonic counterparts, whether the other angels liked it or not.

“Pardon my asking, but—are you still dating that one demon—?”

Felix cut Jihyo off with a sharp glare, “Who I am or am not dating is really none of your concern, Jihyo.”

“It _is_ my concern if who it is, is a demon _using_ you for intel!”

Felix’s eyes glowed blue, his anger from earlier never having left. “I hope you have a higher regard for my judgement than that.”

Jihyo shrank back at Felix’s anger, but her eyes shone stubbornly, she wasn’t changing her mind.

“I do, Felix, but you should know more than anyone that we can’t trust anyone so easily right now, especially _not_ the very demon the shapeshifter—”

“Might I remind you that it was an _angel_ who betrayed us? Changbin was never a threat, he’d only been in the crossfire—”

“Or that’s what he wants you to think.” Jihyo said, the distaste in her eyes betraying her small voice. “I’m just saying that for matters like this, Felix, think with your head, not your heart.” With that Jihyo left his office, leaving Felix to fume in her wake.

Changbin wasn’t a threat. Changbin was never a threat, and yet—even Felix had believed that shapeshifter had been Changbin, Felix had believed that Jaehyun was on their side. He’d been horribly mistaken about both.

He let his fist collide with the solid wood of his desk. The dull ache of it reverberating pleasantly in his hand. When had Felix’s life gotten so turned around?

The angel shook his head, letting his anger fade with each breath he took. Now was not the time to be emotional. He had business to do, and Chan was his next stop. Perhaps he’d even be able to see Changbin again.

If there was one thing Felix _was_ certain of, it was just how much Changbin meant to Felix, and that there was no way in Heaven or Hell, that Felix could live without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys want a much less angsty Hyunseungin fic check out my other story [It Takes Three](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21495076/chapters/51229279) heheh ok thx see ya next chapter ;)


	11. Archives of Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chan sheds some light on Changbin's afterlife, and some hyunseungin fluff (or as fluffy as it can get considering the circumstances lol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were curious about what happens after someone dies in this world--then perhaps this chapter will be of interest?  
> Also I hope the hyunseungin here makes up for the angst lately XP

Changbin appeared in Chan’s throne room. The telltale smell and crackle of the Hellfire washing over him in a strong wave of longing and relief. Tears prickled behind his eyes. Finally, he was _home_.

His sudden appearance startled Chan from his behind his desk.

“Binnie?” Chan called, standing up to make his way over to the stoic demon. “Bin, where have you been?”

“I—” Chaebin’s death returned to his mind like he’d pressed replay. Her sobs, Jimin’s screams, the king’s sadistic glee, and his words, _you will always mean nothing._

Changbin had been trying hard to hold it together, he didn’t want to cry in front of Felix _again_. The angel already thought he was weak, Changbin didn’t _want_ to be weak, he _wasn’t_ weak, he was a _demon,_ he wasn’t—tears started to slip down his cheeks.

“Oh Hell, Binnie, what happened?” Chan cupped Changbin’s face so gently. One look at the pure concern on his hyung’s face made Changbin’s bottom lip quiver, and a fresh set of tears sprung into his eyes. Chan pulled the demon into a tight hug, Changbin hugging back with all he was worth (which wasn’t much, granted, but be appreciated Chan’s familiarity, Chan’s ever-calming presence).

Chan wouldn’t think less of Changbin, if there was anyone in the universe that wouldn’t, it would be his Chan hyung. And so, Changbin cried into his hyung’s shoulder, deep, heart wrenching sobs wracking his body as the demon king engulfed Changbin in a comforting blanket of black, feathery wings.

Changbin spilled everything that had happened from his journey back in time, hiccups occasionally hindering his speech. Chan listened with rapt attention. Eyes never seeming to blink as he stared and stared at Changbin, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles over the back of Changbin’s hands. And when Changbin had finished, with no more tears left to cry, Chan simply straightened, dragging Bin with him.

“Come on, Binnie. I know just what will make you feel better.”

Chan and Changbin walked side by side as the king took him across one of the many bridges that spanned the central cavern of Hell.

Hell was like one big volcano, just—infinite. At the very bottom of the central cavern was where the Hellfires brewed, it’s heat enough to rival even the brightest stars in the universe. It made everything in Hell just a little bit _more_ sufferable, like they were always pushing through a tangible wall of heat.

The other demons gave the two a wide breadth as they crossed, no one dared to bother the King of Hell. Clearly they didn’t know Chan hyung like Changbin did. What they were scared was the name, not the demon himself.

Chan, Jisung, and Changbin were like the Unholy Trinity of Hell, the backbone of Hell’s operations, and their reputation preceded them. No one dared to get on their bad side.

And now, Changbin was something of a legend since a lot of demons still believed that he and the shapeshifter were one and the same. Capturing and killing angels, _dating_ an angel, Changbin was what the young, cutthroat demons strived to be, and what the wiser, older demons shook their heads and clucked their tongues at.

“Where are we going?” Changbin finally asked when they’d crossed over to one of the infinite hallways that made up Hell like an anthill.

“To where we keep the records.” Chan said not pausing in his brisk walk. Changbin was barely able to keep up.

“Records of what?”

“Those who’ve died.” Chan said, waving Changbin into a part of the stoned hallway where there was an alcove. Chan placed his hand on the metal doors there, they gleamed under his touch before opening with a squeak.

“After you,” The king said with a sweep of his arm. Changbin had been there before, though it was forever ago, and he couldn’t really remember why. Probably for a case they’d been working on.

“What are we doing here?” Changbin asked as he took in the rows and rows of shelves lined with yellowing scrolls, and manila folders alike. Changbin briefly wondered if they should start some sort of online database to keep track of everything instead, though quickly vetoed his idea, Hell wasn’t the biggest fan of human technology.

“Making you feel better.” Chan said, making his way through the rows with a purpose. Changbin trailed behind, not quite sure he liked where the king was going with this.

“Chan, I know how I died now.” Changbin said, not without a tinge of sadness.

Chan shook his head, “That’s not what I’m looking for.”

Hell didn’t keep a record of everyone on earth that had died, only those who had died and gone to Hell, and those who had become demons. Heaven was responsible for keeping track of those who went to Heaven, and those who became angels. However, reincarnation was sort of a grey area, since the people there hadn’t technically _died,_ at least not for good.

“A-ha!” Chan said, blowing the dust off of a particularly yellowed scroll. “Yours, I presume.” He offered with a triumphant smile.

Changbin took the scroll with trepidation, “Chan, I already said—”

“This isn’t about how you died.” Chan paused, giving Changbin an appraising look. “Do you remember why you became a demon?” he inquired, a knowing glint in his eyes.

No, Changbin hadn’t’ remembered. He wondered if anyone remembered why they’d chosen what they had in the afterlife. It had been so long ago, but he wasn’t even sure if it was really a time factor, or more of a limbo sort of thing that came with losing all his memories of his human life.

“Just read it,” Chan encouraged, nodding towards the scroll, so Changbin did. Eyes soaking in the words quickly as he went.

“What does it say?” Chan pressed.

“It says—I had a choice, I could have died forever, and my soul would have gone to Heaven,” Changbin gulped, this whole time he’d thought he wasn’t worthy of Heaven, he thought that was the reason he’d become a demon in the first place. “I could have gone to Heaven, or I could have been reincarnation, or—” Changbin’s voice trailed off, making sure he’d read the next part right.

“Or?” Chan supplied after a few seconds.

“Or I could have been—an angel.” Changbin breathed. That was the last thing he’d expected to find. His wide eyes looked up at Chan with confusion. “How—? How is that even possible? I—”

“Keep reading,” Chan said, a small smile playing on his lips.

“It says I denied all the options. I asked to be a demon instead.”

Chan nodded, “Do you know why?”

“I—it doesn’t say.” Changbin said after scanning the rest of the scroll. “It just says what I’d chosen.” He couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He’d been so close to a solid answer—only to have it trickle like sand through his fingers.

“I do.” Chan said, catching Changbin’s attention. “I was there when you chose.”

Changbin’s jaw dropped, “Why—why didn’t you tell me before?”

Chan shrugged, “We’re not supposed to speak about what happens in limbo, it’s strictly a need to know basis. But I figure, now you need to know.

There’d never been anyone like you, someone who’d deny both Heaven and reincarnation. You said that you didn’t want to remember your life, but you also didn’t want to go living another. You’d been beaten down, cheated by life, but there was good in you—there still is.

Instead, you asked to be a demon. You said you were tired of living life idly, you wanted to ‘be bad.’” Chan chuckled, “But you couldn’t be bad, not fully, I knew it then, and I know it to be true now.” Chan paused, “So you asked to be a demon, and I agreed. I said I’d take you under my wing personally. There wasn’t anything Death or Heaven could do to change your mind.”

“So I chose to be a demon, because I was tired of being good?” Changbin made a face, causing Chan to laugh.

“I could have been an angel.” Changbin said flatly, but not with regret, not even with disappointment. He didn’t regret becoming a demon, learning a new life with Chan and later Jisung by his side. The demonic ways of Hell weren’t all that bad, Changbin even relished in the chaos more often than not. And yet—there had always been a part of him that knew, as cliché as it was, that he _wasn’t like other demons_.

 _You’re a soft demon,_ the Keeper of Space’s voice rang out in his mind. Changbin was always too soft. And still, a little part of him wondered, what if? What if he’d chosen to be an angel instead?

 _It sure would have made things with Felix a lot easier,_ Changbin mused. Then they’d both be angels, and would be free to be together, free from all the stigmas of Heaven and Hell.

“So, did I succeed? Do you feel a little better?” Chan asked, eyeing Changbin anxiously. Changbin fidgeted in his spot, idly placing the scroll back where it had rested for decades.

He didn’t really feel better, if anything, he maybe felt worse, but Chan looked so hopeful, there was no way Changbin was going to tell him that.

“I was wondering,” Changbin said instead, “Do you know if the king—?”

“Went to Hell? I don’t need a scroll to tell me he did, but we can confirm it if you’d like.” Chan went off down the maze of shelves, Changbin once again trailing behind. He assumed the shelves were organized by time; he couldn’t fathom how else they’d be organized with that many dead people.

“Here it is.” Chan said with disdain. The yellowed scroll held primly in his hands, like he was afraid of getting infected by it. “Yup, definitely in Hell. No reincarnation options for that son of a bitch.” Chan scowled as Changbin took the scroll from him. From the looks of it, Chaebin hadn’t been the only innocent soul the king had slaughtered, not by a long shot.

Changbin coughed, handing it back to Chan who all but threw it back on the shelf.

“Would you know about—?”

“The prince?” Chan predicated, a smile playing on his lips. “Hmm, were gonna need a little more help for that one. Tzuyu!” Chan’s voice echoed through the cavernous room. Not a moment later, a small demon girl with dark purple skin was by their side.

“You called? Your unholiness?” The girl bowed, her stark white hair billowing around her. It actually looked a lot like Chan’s own snowy locks.

“Please, Tzuyu, for the last time—just call me Chan.”

“Okay.” She said flatly, like she had no intention of doing so anyways.

Chan cleared his throat, “We’re looking for someone. A certain—”

“Park Jimin.” Changbin supplied. The girl’s eyes rolled to the back of her head so only the whites were showing. Changbin shot Chan a _what the fuck_ look, but Chan only motioned to let it go.

“There are approximately 138 Park Jimin’s in our records.” The girl said, eyes returning back to their normal violet. She raised an eyebrow in Changbin’s direction. “You’re going to need to be more specific.”

“He was a prince during the Joseon era,” Changbin supplied. The girl gave a _one sec_ motion as her eyes rolled back again.

“Hmm, nope. No Park Jimin to fit that description here.” Tzuyu said with a small, apologetic shrug.

“That’s alright, Tzuyu, thank you.” Chan said. The girl gave a little salute to the king before disappearing in a puff of grey smoke.

“He might be in Heaven’s records then. Sorry Binnie, we don’t have access to those. But I could think of a few people who do—” Chan teased, not knowing the sour place he and Felix were in right now.

Changbin forced a smile, “It’s alright. Maybe I’ll ask later.”

In the very end, Changbin supposed their excursion had helped him feel a _little_ better. A band aide now covered the fissure in his heart, stopping it from growing at least for the mean time.

The fact that Jimin’s name hadn’t been in Hell was a surprising giant weight off his shoulders. He hadn’t even realized he’d been so worried about it until that moment. He didn’t want Jimin to feel responsible for his death, it wasn’t his fault his dad was an entire jackass buffet that left customers with diarrhea.

Maybe one day he’d ask Felix about it, but that day wasn’t going to be any time soon.

~

Jeongin was standing in front of a full-length mirror, rich fabrics of deep burgundy and regal gold draped over his figure. Atop his head, sat a curving, golden circlet. It’s curly design seeming to gleam and swirl in the mirror’s reflection like it was alive.

“Don’t you look handsome.” A sickeningly familiar voice called out from behind Jeongin. The demon inhaled sharply at the new presence. He found he couldn’t physically turn around, only able to see behind him through the mirror’s reflection. The figure’s image was hidden by Jeongin’s, however, masked in black shadows.

“What am I—?” Jeongin’s muddled voice didn’t feel like his own, sounding like it was coming from somewhere else altogether. Before he could even form a coherent sentence, Jeongin doubled over in pain, his head feeling like it was being pressed from both sides.

He gasped out at the pain, eyesight swimming as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. The golden circlet was glowing brightly around his head. Jeongin reached up, trying to pull the thing off, but it wouldn’t budge.

The figure sighed behind him, “It seems your friends have been spying on me. Though I guess you found out about my plans on your own anyways, didn’t you?”

Jeongin yelped as the crown seemed to grow tighter.

Lucifer tsked, “Just give in, Jeongin. This is only a worst-case scenario anyways. It won’t have to come to this if you simply comply to my plans.”

“What—plans?” Jeongin managed to wheeze out, the constant pain subsiding a little into occasional stabs of pain.

The figure laughed, a grating noise that made Jeongin’s skin prickle. “Why, to take over Hell, of course. Why else do you think I left you in Chan’s care? There’s no way he’ll be able to hurt you. The throne is yours for the taking. And from there, it’s only a small step for more.”

Jeongin’s head was swimming, too much happening at once, and he couldn’t process Lucifer’s words from the stabbing pain in his scalp.

“Don’t worry, Jeonginnie, you’ll give in soon enough.”

Already the scene he was in was starting to fade. Jeongin tried to speak, but no words would come out, he was screaming into a void and no one would hear him.

“Jeongin!” Hyunjin’s frantic voice emerged from the ringing in his ears. Jeongin’s eyes snapping open all at once, a sharp gasp leaving his mouth, hand raising to his head on reflex.

“Innie, what’s wrong? You were screaming.” Seungmin’s concerned eyes darted over his face. Hyunjin’s hand squeezed Jeongin’s.

“I was?” Jeongin muttered. He tried remembering what he’d dreamt of, but the only thing that seemed a remnant of his dream was a dull headache. Jeongin frowned in frustration.

“It was another nightmare, I guess.” The demon shrugged; eyebrows furrowed in thought, trying to remember.

“We should really tell someone about those, Innie.” Hyunjin said with concern, “I can only help you so much, I can’t make them go away forever.”

“What are they about?” Seungmin asked gingerly, round eyes looking at Jeongin curiously.

Jeongin shook his head, “That’s the thing, I can’t remember. I _never_ remember.”

“Maybe they’re not just dreams, In. We can’t be too sure about anything nowadays.” Hyunjin warned.

“Maybe you’re right.” Jeongin was starting to grow increasingly worried about them as well. He couldn’t help but have the feeling that he _should_ remember, that they were _important_ for him to remember.

“I need to go back to Hell; I need to tell Channie hyung about what I found out last night.” Jeongin said, about to slide off the bed but Seungmin and Hyunjin pushed him back down.

“Whaa—” Jeongin stared up at them dumbly. Seungmin and Hyunjin exchanged a look.

“We’re just—worried, In. Are you sure you’re okay?” Seungmin asked, a hand coming to brush a stray piece of hair from Jeongin’s face. Jeongin huffed out a laugh.

“You’re the one that literally _died_ and came back to life, Seung, I should be asking that of you.”

“ _I’m_ not the one having nightmares and going supernova in a park.” Seungmin said pointedly.

“Touché,” Jeongin laughed. He reached up for Seungmin, curling his hand around Seungmin’s neck only to drag the Nephilim down into a kiss. Seungmin gave a surprised yelp, but quickly melted into the kiss. Their lips worked in tandem, a choreographed dance. Jeongin felt all his worries dissolve at the all-consuming touch of Seungmin’s lips on his.

“Hey!” Hyunjin exclaimed, sounded offended at being left out. Jeongin reached out a hand for the angel to take without breaking away from Seungmin’s. He used the angel’s hand to pull himself and Seungmin up to a sitting position, beckoning Hyunjin over with a curved finger.

“What—?” The angel sputtered, confused. Jeongin rolled his eyes, promptly pulling the angel into a three-way kiss. Granted, it had worked out a lot better in Jeongin’s mind.

In reality, the kiss was slightly awkward, too much accidental bumping of noses, and missing each other’s lips completely. Eventually all three of them pulled apart in a fit of giggles.

“Okay, maybe just one at a time, next time.” Hyunjin hummed, his lips had a shiny gloss of spit over them. Jeongin reached out to wipe his thumb across the angel’s lips absently, feeling Hyunjin’s warm breath on his fingertips.

“What do you mean, hyung?” Jeongin started, slightly dazed before meeting the angel’s piercing eyes. “Practice makes perfect!” Jeongin giggled, weaseling out of Hyunjin’s clutches so he could get ready. Seungmin laughed at their antics.

“I’m glad you’re back, Seung.” Jeongin heard Hyunjin’s voice from the other room.

“Me too.” Seungmin’s replied. Jeongin didn’t need to see him to know he had a smile on his face. Jeongin couldn’t help the warm feeling bubbling up in his chest. A smiling Seungmin was Jeongin’s favorite Seungmin.

All too suddenly, Jeongin heard a sharp yell from the other room, and Seungmin’s frantic exclamation of “Jesus Christ!” Jeongin’s nerves stood on end, the sudden change of tone jarring as it was disturbing. He barged back into the other room ready to fight.

“Nope, quite the opposite.” Chan’s calm voice came. Jeongin released a breath of relief, though his heart still hammered in his chest. Chan looked up at Jeongin’s entrance with a tense smile, Seungmin and Hyunjin stared open mouthed at the King of Hell who had popped into their living room uninvited. The two were still tangled up in each other, clearly caught in a compromising position.

Chan cleared his throat awkwardly, “Could I bother you for some tea?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow guys im sorry I didn't mean for this fic to be so angsty but alas--it seems to always veer that way. I like to think it's angst for a purpose though--and that they all have their moments, but sorry if you came for fluff and got tears instead lol :(
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	12. The Golden Fillet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chan hears the news, and a rather familiar someone interrupts Minsung's training session

The King of Hell looked extremely out of place as he sat stiffly upon their apartment’s ugly, brown, upholstered couch. Various unidentifiable stains adorned the fabric from tenant’s past, and now the King of Hell himself was seated atop the atrocity. The demon’s black, feathered wings were rigid behind him. Jeongin would have laughed at the sight if there weren’t much more pressing matters at hand to discuss.

Chan raised the red, devil mug Seungmin had given him to his lips. The mug was fitted with little red horns that jutted off the top of the mug, a cartoonish devil face, and a triangle topped tail that curved as the mug’s handle. Seungmin looked like he was trying hard (and failing) to keep the amused smile off his face.

“So Jeongin, is this going to be a habit of yours, blowing up things?” Chan asked after placing the mug gingerly back onto the table.

Jeongin blanched, “It was one time!”

“There was also the portal to District 9.” Hyunjin supplied unhelpfully.

Jeongin shot him a look. “Ok so maybe, somethings tend to get… burned when I’m around, but that’s not what’s really important right now.” Jeongin dismissed, “I know what Lucifer is looking for.”

Chan’s mouth opened in a small “o," “Well, what is it then?” The king prompted.

“A crown, something called the Golden Fillet.”

Seungmin tried to muffle his laugh, but it ended up coming out as a snort. “Sounds like the name of a cheap buffet restaurant, or something you can order off the McDonalds menu.” He said bemused.

Chan however, had grown ashen at the name. “Are you sure that’s what he’s looking for?”

Jeongin nodded, shifting his stance uneasily at Chan’s solemn expression. “Why, what is it?” Jeongin asked.

“The Golden Fillet, otherwise known as the Jinggu Quan, AKA the Monkey King’s golden circlet.” Chan made a vague gesture at his forehead. Jeongin frowned, _why does that seem so familiar?_

A ghost of an ache pulsed in his head.

“The Monkey King? Like… _Journey to the West_ Monkey King?” Seungmin asked, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

“More or less,” Chan replied, “but if Lucifer’s looking for that crown, we’re in far deeper shit that I’d ever like to be in.”

“Does anyone _really_ want to be in shit?” Hyunjin mumbled from his spot on the bed. Seungmin elbowed the angel.

“What’s so special about this crown?” Jeongin asked.

Chan eyed him wearily, “Whoever wears it, is subject to the whim of whoever places the crown onto their head. And if they don’t submit—”

“The crown tightens.” Seungmin finished, they all looked at him. “What? I know the story of the Monkey King, it’s a classic. They even made a drama out of it. Hyunjin, I think you’d like it, although the ending was—”

“What Seungmin said is correct,” Chan cut off Seungmin’s rambling. The Nephilim’s lip curled in dejection, but he stayed silent nonetheless.

“The crown is dangerous, but no one could ever destroy it, so it was hidden away long, long ago. Even I’m not sure where it is now.” Chan’s eyebrows furrowed into his trademark thinking face.

“Well no biggie, Jeongin here can melt through anything! Just let him at the crown and it’ll be gone in an instant.” Hyunjin said almost proudly. Jeongin gave the angel a grimace of a smile.

“Hm, you may have a point there,” Chan mused, “but in any case, we must find this crown before Lucifer does.” The king pushed himself up to a standing position, wings stretching behind him. “Well then, I’ll get to work, I’ll try to see if I can find any hints as to where the crown may be.” Chan said. “Though it would also be worth it to check Heaven’s archives as well.” Chan looked pointedly at Hyunjin.

“Err, right.” Hyunjin wiped his palms along his pants. “I’ll go see what I can find.”

“Great.” Chan said, wings unfurling in a stretch-like manner. Jeongin unconsciously flapped his own, tiny bat wings, slightly salty his were so small.

“In the meantime—you,” Chan pointed at Jeongin who straightened up in a _“me?”_ gesture. “No blowing things up.”

Jeongin nodded fervently, but Seungmin scoffed, “No promises.” He teased.

“And you,” Chan said, turning his dark eyes to Seungmin, who sobered up slightly under the king’s gaze. “Just—don’t attract any attention. We can’t exactly handle a whole Heaven and Hell fiasco right now on top of everything else.”

“You got it boss.” Seungmin saluted sarcastically, a note of bitterness in his voice. Jeongin eyed him, concerned.

Chan nodded at them as goodbye before disappearing in a ruffle of feathers.

“Whelp,” Hyunjin exhaled, running a hand through his silky black hair, “Looks like it’s back to Heaven for me for a while. Are you both gonna be okay?” Hyunjin’s brows creased in worry, his hands flitting nervously.

“We’ll be fine, Jinnie.” Seungmin assured, reaching out to squeeze Hyunjin’s hand. “Innie here promised not to blow anything up.”

Hyunjin scoffed, a smile on his lips, “Famous last words—but I’m holding you to it!” He eyed Jeongin meaningfully.

“Why is everyone harping on me?” Jeongin bemoaned. Hyunjin cooed at him, reaching out to pull Jeongin closer so the demon stood between the angel’s legs. Hyunjin stared up at him, eyes crinkling endearingly, and instantly, Jeongin felt himself relax. He was convinced it was a power that Hyunjin had, never failing to ease Jeongin’s nerves.

Hyunjin sighed, running a soft hand lightly up Jeongin’s arm. “I wish I could bring you both with me."

“Well then, get your haloed ass back here soon!” Seungmin interjected, making both Hyunjin and Jeongin laugh.

"I wish I still shared a guardian angel bond with you, both of you really, so I'd know instantly if you were in trouble." Hyunjin had a wistful smile on his face.

Seungmin hummed, "It was kinda nice having you know exactly how I felt." 

"Wasn't that--kind of intrusive?" Jeongin piqued up, "I mean, what if you were angry at him and you didn't want him to know?" 

Seungmin scoffed, "If I'm angry at Jinnie you best bet he'd know about it." He narrowed his eyes at Hyunjin teasingly. Hyunjin only rolled his in response, squeezing both their hands. 

“I'll be back soon, I promise.” Hyunjin said as way of response, surging up to peck Jeongin and Seungmin on the lips before disappearing suddenly, leaving the two stunned in his wake.

Eventually, Seungmin sighed, “And then there were two.”

“Seungie, do you want to talk about… anything?” Jeongin asked lightly, not meeting the boy’s eyes.

Seungmin paused before replying, “Do you?”

“About what?” Jeongin asked innocently.

Seungmin rolled his eyes, “You know what.”

_My nightmares._

Jeongin sighed, plopping beside Seungmin to lay down in the spot Hyunjin had just occupied. The sheets were still warm under him. A pang of longing shoot through Jeongin. It hadn’t even been three minutes, but the two hadn’t really been apart ever since—The Incident.

“I wish I could, Seung, really,” Jeongin started, staring at the popcorn ceiling of their apartment. “But I honestly don’t remember what my dreams are about. Only that I feel like they’re—important.”

Seungmin lay down beside him. Jeongin turned his head to take in Seungmin’s side profile, the Nephilim’s red-brown hair fanned messily under his head, his very own version of a halo.

Seungmin hummed. “From the way you wake up, I wouldn’t venture to say they’re _good_ messages.”

Jeongin felt a curl of guilt in his chest. Screaming wasn’t an ideal way to be woken up, for any of them. Jeongin’s fingers found Seungmin’s subconsciously on the bed. He laced them together for support.

Seungmin turned to look at Jeongin, it felt like electricity when their eyes met.

“You really don’t remember a thing?” Seungmin asked, lips turned down in a small frown. Jeongin lifted his free hand, fingers brushing his forehead in a sliver of a memory.

“No. Just--feelings, sometimes.” Jeongin replied. The phantom headache wasn’t nothing, he'd surmised, but didn't want to share it with Seungmin jsut yet. It would only make him more worried without any context.

The silence spread between them, both in their own worlds.

“You’re Lucifer’s son, aren’t you?” Seungmin eventually asked, more as a statement than a question. Jeongin sucked in a breath, but there was no denying it at this point.

“Yes.” He said, and left it at that.

The two lay like that for a while, side by side on the bed, hands fitting together like puzzle pieces. Neither of them said anything more, content to be in each other’s presence, even if their minds were swimming deep in thoughts of their own.

~

“Get up.” Jisung huffed, sword pointed towards a fallen Minho. Minho’s chest heaved in exertion, his eyes stormy as he looked up at Jisung. Jisung sincerely hoped it was only because they were sparring and not because Minho secretly (not so secretly?) hated him.

In a quick motion, Minho wacked Jisung’s sword away with his own, rolling to the side before jumping back onto his feet. Jisung took a defensive stance, the two eyeing each other intently, anticipating their next moves. Minho was the first to attack, striking his sword forwards to clash with Jisung’s.

Minho was pretty good at sword fighting, considering he’d just started not too long ago, but he still had much to learn.

Jisung easily blocked his next attack, legs sweeping out to knock Minho back off his feet. The cambion landed with a harsh _“oof.”_

“You keep leaving your lower guard down.” Jisung sighed, swiping sweat off his brow. Sparring in Hell was hell in itself for how hot it already was without any physical exertion. Jisung thought he could really go for an ice cream right about then.

Right as he was about to suggest they take a break, the wide double doors to the training room blew open, effectively capturing Jisung’s attention.

Apparently, Minho hadn’t gotten the memo, for Jisung felt the breath get knocked out of him and the next thing he knew, he was on his back with Minho kneeling threateningly over him.

Under different circumstances, Jisung would have greedily drank in the sight of a fierce, sweaty Minho on top of him, staring down at Jisung with an intensity that had Jisung’s blood singing through his veins. However, the clomping of boots brought both of them out of their moment.

Jisung was only able to stare as a girl walked towards them. Heavy, threatening looking black boots lead up to fishnet-clad legs, a pink and purple plaid pleated skirt, and a tight long-sleeved black top with cut out shoulders. Long, black hair flowed like a waterfall around the girl’s sharp yet somehow dainty features, her bags cut in a straight line across her forehead.

She came to a stop in front of the two boys, arms crossed over her chest. Minho stumbled to stand up, but Jisung continued to stare at the girl in shock. He was positive he’d never seen her before, and yet she looked so familiar. She almost looked like—

“Changbin?” Jisung sputtered out. The girl raised an eyebrow at Jisung on the floor. A slow, familiar grin started to spread across her face.

“Hi Sungie.”

“Wait—what??” Minho exclaimed, eyes blown wide, brows scrunched in confusion. “That can’t be Changbin. Last I checked, he was a _boy._ ”

The girl—Changbin—tsked, moving so her hair would fly behind her shoulders. “That’s where you’re wrong. We’re _demons_ , Min. And for the record, I was a girl in the beginning.”

Jisung didn’t quite understand what she meant by that. He knew demons and angels could change their gender at will and all, but from the first moment he’d met Changbin, she’d very much been a _boy_.

Jisung staggered to a standing position. Eyes never straying from Changbin, who watched them amused.

“I like the new look, Binnie.” Jisung acknowledged. Changbin’s smile grew brighter, “but, why…?”

“Well, I may or may not have traveled to the past, to my past life before becoming a demon. And let’s just say I grew kinda… attached.” Changbin’s tone was light, but Jisung saw past that. There was a look in her eyes he knew all too well, a set to her jaw that told Jisung she wasn’t saying everything. Even as a girl, Changbin’s tells were the same. Jisung made a mental note to pry the truth out of her later.

“So you’re just… a girl now?” Minho asked, curious.

Changbin shrugged dainty shoulders, “For now,”

“Cool.” Minho’s eyes had gotten a sheen over them, Jisung eyed him weirdly. “Does that mean _I_ could be a girl if I wanted to?” Minho asked.

Jisung opened his mouth to reply when Chan’s booming voice filled the room.

“BOYS. NEED YOU IN THE LIBRARY, NOW.”

They all winced as the voice subsided.

“Maybe we should all invest in phones, so he could just text us instead.” Minho said, eyes narrowed as he rubbed at his ear.

Hah! Chan with a smart phone? You're hilarious Min." Jisung brought the sword back to their weapons wall. "I guess you don’t need to come, Binnie. He only called for the boys.” Jisung teased as they made their way out the door.

“Har har.” Changbin quipped.

They made it to the library fast enough. The king filled them in on their game plan for looking for the crown. Jisung and Changbin hadn’t even known that such a crown existed. Minho had laughed at the name “Golden Fillet,” not fully comprehending its dangers.

Chan hadn’t even noticed Changbin’s new look until many moments later, a testament to how stressed the king must have been. He gave Changbin a kind smile though, after his initial realization. Jisung vaguely wondered if he’d ever seen the king’s smile so soft.

 _It must be cause she’s a girl._ Jisung thought dismally, purposefully forgetting the many times Chan had worn the same look at Jeongin, and that maybe Chan just liked them more than Jisung.

 _Wouldn’t be the first,_ Jisung thought dejectedly, his eyes drifting to Minho who was flipping through an old, dusty book. The dust billowed up at a particularly strong flip, causing Minho to sneeze. The sneeze-dust formed into multiple dust bunnies that hopping away across the library floor.

Jisung couldn’t help his smile as Minho stared at the hopping dust bunnies in a mix of awe and glee. The cambion was still coming to know his powers.

They spent what felt like an eternity searching through old books and scrolls and even some stone carvings, trying to find something to do with the Monkey King’s golden circlet.

It reminded Jisung all too much of the time they’d been looking for a way to find Minho when he’d been captured. Jisung kept stealing glances at the boy from where Minho sat surrounded by various leather-bound books, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. It reminded Jisung of the times he’d watch Minho studying or doing homework back at university.

That felt like a lifetime ago now. There was no way any of them could go back to how things used to be. Though Jisung wasn’t sure he wanted to go back anyways. He didn’t particularly enjoy the time they’d thought Changbin was evil and missing, a time when Jisung and Minho had argued like mortal enemies.

Minho looked up suddenly, and Jisung froze, feeling embarrassed for getting caught staring, but Minho gave him a fond smile, and Jisung melted instantly. A feeling akin to relief warming his insides. Jisung smiled back, only to startle when a book slammed down on the table beside him.

Jisung looked up with wide eyes to see Changbin leaning over the book, a curtain of hair shielding her face from view. Jisung had the urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

“I think I found something.” Changbin said, finger pointing at something in the book. It was funny how Changbin’s voice, though higher, still had the same gritty tone behind it, something so distinctly _Changbin_.

“The Golden Fillet?” Jisung asked, if only because he knew it would elicit a chuckle out of Minho. He was not disappointed.

“More so the Jinggu Quan.” Changbin replied, tucking her own hair behind her ear. “It says here that it’s got a mind of its own.”

“You mean—the crown in sentient?” Jisung asked with a frown. Minho had come over to join them.

“I guess? It doesn’t really say much more than that.” Changbin said, sighing in frustration.

“This crown is supposed to be very powerful, right? So why don’t you just use your—demon magics and scry for it?” Minho suggested, waving a hand vaguely in the air.

“That might have worked at one point, but the crown should be dormant for centuries now, assuming it hasn’t been used.” Chan spoke up from his spot in a nearby aisle. He had a stone carving held in his hands. “Meaning that it won’t have any energy to read off of.”

They all slumped in defeat. Jisung rubbed harshly at his eyes. “I feel like my eyes are about to pop out of their sockets. Can we take a break? Get some ice cream or something?” He wasn’t about to given up on his ice cream dream that easily.

Chan frowned at him, but upon looking at Minho and Changbin’s equally eager nods, he sighed, giving in. “You guys go ahead, I’ll keep searching.”

Jisung booed at him, “Come on, Chan. You work too much. At least let us bring you back something?”

Chan eyed him thoughtfully, “Alright. Bring me back something.”

“You want a specific flavor or—?” Jisung rolled his hands vaguely.

Chan shrugged, turning his lips up in a small smile, “You choose.”

Jisung’s eyes glinted dangerously. Changbin sighed at his side, “Oh no, now you’ve really done it.”

“You asked for it, hyung!” Jisung exclaimed happily, before the three of them teleported over to the human realm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, what is even happening anymore 난 몰라  
> Though it is getting somewhere I swear...


	13. Cults and ice cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jaehyun and JK go on a mission, and the demons journey to a local ice cream parlor

“Remind me what we’re doing again?” Jaehyun drawled, eyes drifting lazily through the crowded bar. There were far too many humans in such a small place, Jaehyun’s nose was starting to itch, like hay fever.

“Following a lead.” Jungkook replied curtly, taking a sip of his fake-alcoholic drink. Jaehyun had made fun of him for ordering water at a bar, but Jungkook had only shot him an annoyed look saying he was a cop, he couldn’t drink on the job. Though Jaehyun wasn’t too sure Jungkook could really be called a “cop.”

_\--_

Earlier that day, he’d gone with Jungkook to the police department. He’d followed Jungkook past the hustle and bustle of the precinct, past officers hunched over computers, huddled around tables, writing up what he guessed were reports as civilians sat anxiously awaiting their verdicts.

He followed Jungkook to the far back of the precinct, past a metal door marked, “SPN DIVISION.”

As it had turned out, Jungkook wasn’t exactly a police officer, rather, one that worked strictly on supernatural crimes. Jaehyun had been almost impressed, _almost._

“Hyung,” Jungkook had greeted one of the only other humans who seemed to be a part of the supernatural division. The human barely looked like much. He was so small, and for some reason reminded Jaehyun of a cat. He’d said as much out loud, and Jungkook had sucked in a sharp breath.

The smaller male’s eyes morphing into telltale cat slits that made Jaehyun realize that oh, he actually _was_ a cat. At least—partly. He didn’t dwell on that fact for too long, he’d seen much stranger things in his afterlife.

Yoongi, was the cat boy’s name.

Yoongi had informed Jungkook that they had been able to identify one of the members of the satanic cult they had gone to investigate.

“Dyo Kyungsoo, is his name.” Yoongi had explained, passing Jungkook a photo of said man. Jaehyun peered over his shoulder to look, not that he was interested, he _wasn’t_.

“Someone saw him coming out of that house and stashing his robes in the bushes, called it in for suspicious activity.”

Jungkook and Yoongi had gone back and forth for a while, and Jaehyun had gotten bored, resorting to tuning them out. He’d wandered around the small, metal room. It was extremely uninviting. No wonder the people who worked there were so cold. It was very unlike the sunlit corridors of Heaven, the brightness of the angels—literally, they _glowed_.

Jaehyun caught sight of a few pictures scattered on the far side of a desk. _More satanic rituals,_ he thought dismally, until a shadowed figure in one of them caught his attention. Jaehyun lifted the photo, staring at it more intently, as if just by sheer willpower the shadow figure would come into focus.

He wasn’t sure why it unsettled him so much, but he shivered as a feeling akin to dread seeped over him.

\--

“That guy over there,” Jungkook’s voice came all too suddenly, jarring Jaehyun out of his reverie. The angel jumped in his seat, almost falling off his barstool. The human had the audacity to almost look—amused.

Jaehyun cleared his throat, annoyed to have been caught off guard. Annoyed by the smirk trekking across Jungkook’s face.

“Where?” He asked instead. Jungkook nodded his head discretely to a booth in the corner where a small man with big round eyes sat, he recognized him instantly as Dyo Kyungsoo.

Jaehyun shivered at the way the man was staring deadly at nothing, swirling a drink in his hands. “I hate cultists, they’re all so creepy.”

“Look.” Jungkook said under his breath as another man slid into the booth to join him. This one was a lot taller, kind of looked like a model, if Jaehyun was putting labels on things. The shorter man barely acknowledged the taller as he sat down.

Jungkook cursed, “I can’t hear what they’re saying from here, I’m going to get closer.”

Jaehyun didn’t even get the chance to protest before Jungkook was slinking away, heading discretely towards the two Satanists.

Jaehyun sighed heavily, he couldn’t be bothered with all the pretenses cops (even supernatural cops, it seemed) had to uphold for their so-called investigations. Jaehyun sat stubbornly in his seat, sulking into his drink. No matter how much he drank, there was no way he could get drunk, but that didn’t stop him from downing another shot.

“Whoa, you look like you’ve been going through it.” A cheeky voice came from his side. Jaehyun glanced up to see a boy, his blonde hair fell softly over his forehead, but he had a mischievous glint in his eyes that immediately made Jaehyun wary.

What was worse than ignorant humans? The mischievous, cocky ones.

Jaehyun sighed again, hoping if he didn’t reply the human would leave him alone, but it seemed his luck, much like the shot glass in his hand, had ran dry.

“The name’s Baekhyun, by the way. Why don’t we get you another one of those?”

Jaehyun side eyed the human, debating the merits of magically zipping his mouth closed, or perhaps disappearing from the scene altogether. His eyes drifted to Jungkook then, who had managed to steal a seat directly behind the two cultists.

If Jungkook had stayed long enough to hear what Jaehyun had to say, then that really wouldn’t have been necessary, since Jaehyun could hear them perfectly well, even from this distance.

“Did you find it?” Kyungsoo asked.

“I don’t understand why _I’m_ the one having to do all the research. Why aren’t you helping?” The taller rebutted. Kyungsoo shot him a killing look.

“Since Chanyeol has gone MIA, or better yet—been killed, then it means that I am in charge.” Kyungsoo said, voice void of any emotion. “Did you find it?” He asked again, though it sounded more like a demand.

“No, I didn’t find anything.” The taller let out an exasperated sigh, “At this point he’s going to end up killing all of us—”

“No, he won’t.” Kyungsoo cut in. “He won’t because you’re _going_ to find something. Or Satan help me, I will kill you myself.”

“We don’t even know what to look for!” The taller sputtered out, “The Monkey King’s crown? That’s a fucking legend! How are we supposed to do his dirty work—”

Kyungsoo’s hand shot out, gripping the collar of the other male’s shirt, who squawked.

“Don’t talk about Lord Lucifer like that. He might hear you, and then you’ll have far worse thing’s to fear than death.” Kyungsoo let his shirt go harshly, the taller smoothing out the creases with a frown.

“You know what we have to lose, Sehun,” The smaller said, quiet but deadly, “And I am not willing to give that up so easily.”

“Hey man, are you alright?” The cheeky voice returned. Jaehyun dragged his eyes towards the blond-haired boy. He smirked as Jaehyun finally paid him attention. Baekhyun gestured towards a new, full shot glass with his eyes.

“I bought it for you, the least you could do is drink it.” He said, his voice borderline pout. Jaehyun only stared at him disinterestedly.

Baekhyun scoffed, “Yah, you’re rather rude, you know that? First you don’t accept the drink I bought you, and second, you’re spying on my friends.”

Jaehyun’s eyes narrowed at the human’s words. Baekhyun took his time, sipping his own drink, before his eyes darted back to Jaehyun’s.

“What?” Jaehyun finally asked, impatient at the human’s lack of response.

Baekhyun laughed, a smile taking over his face in a way that seemed purely psychotic, “Don’t play dumb now. I saw you with your little _friend_ earlier. There’s clearly something going on between you, lover’s spat?” Baekhyun side eyed him, “No? Hmm, then I must have read the relationship wrong.”

“What are you getting at?” Jaehyun growled out, annoyed at the human’s overly cocky behavior. He was seconds away from smashing the guy’s head into the counter. (That wouldn’t help his angel probation much.)

Baekhyun shrugged nonchalantly, “Why are you spying on us? You surely don’t look like someone who would associate themselves with dark magic. In fact, there’s almost a certain—glow, around you.” Baekhyun said, eyes drifting to the space around Jaehyun.

Jaehyun’s lips curled in distrust, surely the human wouldn’t be able to see the glow that surrounded all angels.

“I have to say, angels are a lot grumpier than I’d imagined. What’s the matter? They’d don’t treat you well up in Heaven?” Baekhyun gave him a dazzling smile.

Jaehyun could only gape dumbly at the boy. _How did he know I was an angel?_ His wariness increased as the boy didn’t take his eyes off of Jaehyun. Though it didn’t seem like he was threatening Jaehyun, in fact, it almost seemed like he was stalling.

Jaehyun whipped his head back towards Jungkook, only to find that the boy was gone. He stood up abruptly, knocking his stool over in the process.

Baekhyun tsked, “Have some public decency,” but Jaehyun didn’t care. He hauled the boy up, fists bunched in the front of his shirt. And even then, the cocky smile never left Baekhyun’s face.

“Where is he?” Jaehyun growled out threateningly. His eyes flashing blue with heavenly light.

“Ah! There it is. I was told angels have such beautiful eyes. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of them myself.”

Jaehyun ignored the gasps of the humans around them and punched Baekhyun’s face. Violence towards humans was generally frowned upon in Heaven, but he was obstructing information regarding his _charge._

“Where. Is he?” Jaehyun asked again. Baekhyun’s head rolled back to face him, scoffing at the angel.

“They couldn’t have gotten far, angel.” Baekhyun said vaguely, not an ounce of fear in his voice. Jaehyun was tempted to kill him right then and there, but he let go, shoving the boy away from him with enough force to make him topple over more stools to the ground.

Jaehyun ran towards the booth Jungkook had been at, eyes darting around until he saw a back door down an adjacent hallway and took off for it.

The door led out to an empty back alleyway. Jaehyun cursed, running to the entrance only to see empty streets, not a single pedestrian walked along them.

Suddenly, a dull pain started to emanate from his wrists. He looked down at them in confusion, there wasn’t anything visibly wrong. Jaehyun sucked in a breath, he had almost forgotten about the bond that connected a guardian angel to their charge. It wasn’t Jaehyun’s pain he was feeling, it was Jungkook’s.

Jaehyun closed his eyes, homing in on the bond for any hints as to where Jungkook was. Almost instantaneously, it was like a string had connected him to Jungkook, tugging him in the right direction.

Jaehyun ran.

~

It felt weird being back in Heaven. The sun seemed too bright, the grass too green, everyone too—uptight and prickly.

Hyunjin slinked through the halls, trying his best to avoid eye contact so he wouldn’t be spoken to. He only had to go to Heaven’s library, research about the Golden Fillet, and then he could be back with Seungmin and Jeongin. _Easy._

He was just rounding the corner, the libraries doors in sight, when he ran into Felix and Jihyo.

“Oh! Hyunjin!” Felix exclaimed, lips spreading into a smile. His eyes almost shone in relief, like he was begging Hyunjin _“for the love of God,_ _please_ _get me out of here.”_

Hyunjin didn’t hesitate.

“Lix!” He replied, giving Jihyo a courtesy nod. It wasn’t that he hated Jihyo, she was just—a bit too uptight for his liking. As were most angels in Heaven, it seemed. Jihyo nodded back, all business, before turning to Felix.

“I should go, it’s about time for Jaehyun to give me his weekly report.” She said. Hyunjin tried hard not to cringe at the mention of the angel’s name. He’d already seen him now, far too soon for his liking, but still, he was curious about just what was going on with him.

“Right, let me know how it goes, Jihyo.” Felix replied with his own nod before Jihyo disappeared. Felix sighed, running a hand down his face.

“You look like you’ve been through shit, dude.” Hyunjin pointed out. Felix shot him a look.

“You have no idea.”

Felix accompanied Hyunjin on his quest of research while Hyunjin filled him in on what had happened in the human realm.

“And then, Jeongin quite literally blew up, and disintegrated the cultists—which, on one hand, is bad because—don’t kill humans, but on another, they _were_ satanic cultists.” The angels paused in moral deliberation, before promptly deciding it wasn’t worth it.

“Anyways, they told him Lucifer was looking for the Golden Fillet, and then the King of Hell popped into our apartment for a quick powwow, and now—here I am.” Hyunjin spread his arms wide at the countless shelves of books the library of Heaven held.

“Wow. And I thought my few days had been eventful.” Felix muttered. Upon Hyunjin’s questioning look, the angel took the time to tell Hyunjin about his blast to the past. Hyunjin gasping dramatically (and completely un-ironically) multiple times throughout his story. 

“Changbin—was killed?” Hyunjin asked after Felix had finished. Felix nodded somberly. “And you haven’t—seen him since?”

Felix shrugged a single shoulder, “He seemed pretty upset when he left.”

“Well yeah, the guy just found out he was _murdered._ ” Hyunjin huffed. “but that’s all the more reason you should go after him.”

Felix paused, looking back into Hyunjin’s earnest eyes. “I wanted to, but—” The angel paused.

“But—what?” Hyunjin prompted.

“I don’t know, Jin. I have a bad feeling he’s upset with _me._ ”

“Why would he be upset with you? You didn’t kill him.” Hyunjin huffed indignantly. Felix pulled a book off a shelf.

“I don’t know, can we just—stop talking about it and start looking for some answers? Please?”

Hyunjin didn’t like his friend’s reluctance at facing his problems, but he admitted that they did have a task at hand, so he let it go. Him and Felix spent the next few hours scouring their archives for anything remotely related to the Monkey King’s crown.

“I hope they’re having more luck down there than we are.” Hyunjin said begrudgingly as yet another book failed to produce any useful information. He looked up to try and spot Felix—only to find the angel was nowhere in sight. Hyunjin frowned, standing up.

“Lix?” He called, craning his neck to look at the second, and third floor balconies of the library. The space in the middle of the library was pretty wide open, since all the shelves were pressed against four towering walls.

“Lix!” Hyunjin called again, placing his hands on his hips. “He ditched me.” Hyunjin said bitterly. 

“I’m here!” Felix finally replied, a single hand shooting up from the second-floor balcony behind a stack of books. Hyunjin sighed, letting his own wings unfurl out to fly over to his friend. (You’d think they’d have ladders or something, but angels always looked for an excuse to stretch out and show off their beautiful wings).

“I think I found something.” Felix said excitedly, and all traces of bitterness left Hyunjin.

“You did?” He replied, equally as excited. Finding something meant he was closer to being able to go back home and kiss the living daylights out of his boyfriends.

 _“The Jinggu Quan was a dangerous relic of the Monkey King,”_ Felix read, _“Because of its corruptive power, it was banished outside the realms of Heaven or Hell. To make sure no being would ever be able to find the Jinggu Quan, the crown was allowed to hide for itself_.

Wait—what?” Felix exclaimed, hunching closer to the book to reread its words. “Hide for itself? That makes no sense, it’s an inanimate object.”

“Or—is it?” Hyunjin pondered, worrying his lip with his fingers. Felix looked up dubiously. Hyunjin shrugged, “Either way, it’s something worth reporting back to Chan. Maybe they found something else that can back this up.”

Felix let out a shaky sigh, “Okay.” He said, standing up with the book in his hands. “Let’s go pay Hell a visit.”

~

“Two Cookies n’ Cream, one chocolate chip cookie dough, and one lemon sorbet, please.” Jisung ordered happily at the first ice cream parlor they stumbled upon. Minho and Changbin scrunched their noses at Jisung’s chosen flavor for Chan.

“Lemon? That’s disgusting.” Minho said.

“You really did him dirty this time.” Changbin chuckled shaking her head, making black hair fly around her.

Jisung grinned, “Well, someone needs to order the lemon flavor. Look, it barely has a dent in it compared to the others!” Jisung pointed at the tubs of ice cream behind the glass. “Someone needs to show the lemon flavor some love.”

“Wow, how touching.” Minho scoffed, but Changbin’s heart gave a little squeeze.

“That’s actually—pretty sweet.” Changbin said, both boys eyed her incredulously.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure lemon is sour.” Minho pointed out with a laugh. Jisung however, gave Changbin a slightly concerned look, enough to make Changbin snap out of her sentimentality. Maybe she’d tell Jisung about it all someday, but not today. Today, she just wanted to feel what it was like to be a girl again and eat some cookie dough ice cream damnit.

The three got their ice cream, before realizing that if they brought it back to Hell, the ice cream would melt faster than you could say “What the Hell” so they decided to eat first before returning.

“But—what about Channie hyung?” Changbin asked. Minho and Jisung stifled a laugh at her words. “What?” Changbin bristled.

“You just—technically he’s your _oppa_ now.” Jisung said, as Minho let out a snort.

Changbin shifted in her seat, “Well, he’s still hyung to me, so I’ll call him whatever I want.”

“Mmmm sure, you talk to Felix like that?” Jisung teased, but it struck another touchy chord in Changbin. She stiffened on reflex, ignoring the remark by scooping a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

When she dared to look up again, Jisung was giving her the same curious look, eyebrows raised in question, but Changbin just shook her head slightly. _Not now,_ she tried to relay. Jisung seemed to get the message, letting out a sigh as he bit into his own ice cream.

“Ooo! Brain freeze.” He yelped.

Changbin let the two take reign over the conversation, only half-listening. She caught a few guys catching glances at her. A couple of them even grinned when she made eye contact, to which Changbin narrowed her eyes threateningly, letting them flash black and enjoying the sudden fear that took hold of their once cocky features. She ate her ice cream a little more happily after that.

That is—until she felt another pair of eyes staring at her. She looked up, ready to deter yet another male human, but her breath caught in her throat, eyes going wide at the same time the boy staring at her stumbled over his own feet. Changbin felt a spark of endearment bloom in her heart, though shocked in disbelief.

The boy apologized to the man that he’d stumbled into, before his eyes shot back to Changbin. Her heart stuttered. Yup it was definitely him, there was no mistaking those round eyes, the soft curve of his nose—Park Jimin, in the flesh.

“What are you staring at?” Jisung asked suddenly, face all too close to Changbin’s as she jerked in surprise.

“Who? What?” Changbin cleared her throat awkwardly. Jisung followed her pervious line of sight before his eyes lit up in recognition.

“Oh, it’s the two boys from the cult house.”

“That _what?”_ Changbin asked, did Jisung already know him? What was Jimin doing at a cult house?

“Yeah, when we went to investigate a cult a few days ago, there were these two amateur ghost hunters, you know the like.” Jisung said, giving Changbin a look, “And it was them. So, I messed with them, just a little.” There was a smugness in Jisung’s voice that instantly had Changbin wary.

“Jisung, what did you do?”

“Nothing! I just—gave them what they’d came for. A demon.”

Changbin’s eyes flitted back to Jimin, the boy quickly looking away the second their eyes met. Changbin tried hard to keep the smile off her face. _So he was reincarnated._ She thought wistfully, he was free to live again without his soul stuck in Heaven or Hell.

“Why does he keep staring at you?” Minho asked, voice conspirationally quiet.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s cause Changbin’s hot now.” Jisung said matter-of-factly. Changbin wasn’t sure if she should be offended that he was implying she wasn’t hot as a guy or complimented.

Minho looked slightly murderous.

“What?” Jisung asked, voice suddenly unsure as he caught Minho’s expression.

“He’s kinda cute.” Jisung remarked, making Minho’s shoot daggers at him, Changbin cringed for Jisung on the inside. _Dude, stop talking._

Jisung obliviously barreled on, “Too bad you already have an angelic boyfriend, or I’d encourage you to go for it.”

Changbin let out a high-pitched squeak of a laugh. _Felix._ She felt guilty for momentarily forgetting about him. Jimin’s sudden appearance had taken forefront in her mind.

“Right.” Changbin said distractedly, continuing to stare at Jimin unabashedly. When Jimin caught her eye next, he let his lip curl up into a shy smile. Changbin found herself instantly smiling back.

“Or—do you?” Jisung asked, looking back and forth between Changbin and Jimin. “I mean, I’m not gonna judge since, we are demons and all, but Bin—”

“Please, stop talking.” Changbin said, the slight bite to her voice made Jisung snap his mouth shut.

“I’m not going to cheat on Felix.” Changbin said, her voice a lot softer, “but there’s also something I have to—take care of.”

Jisung looked completely lost, and desperate for answers. Changbin gave her friend a reassuring smile. “I’ll fill you in on it all later.”

“Can’t you just tell me now? I’m dying to know.” Jisung said, practically vibrating in his seat.

Changbin laughed, “Let’s just say we have—history.”

Jisung’s mouth opened in an “o.” “You mean—you’ve dated before? Or you mean _history history_ cause—”

“Sung _shut up_ ,” Minho chastised for Changbin, grabbing hold of Jisung’s wrist, ignoring the demon’s protests. “Don’t worry Binnie, we’ll leave you be.” He winked at Changbin before dragging Jisung out of the ice cream parlor, taking Chan’s slightly melted lemon sorbet with them.

“Tell me later!” Jisung called after Changbin, the latter ducking her head in hopes no one would think she was associated with him.

Now that her friends were gone, she could focus all her attention onto Jimin—who had disappeared.

“What—” Changbin straightened, looking around the ice cream parlor without seeing the familiar face of the boy, the prince, Park Jimin.

Changbin stood up abruptly, worried she’d missed her chance, let him slip away and never see him again. She was about to run out the door when someone cleared his throat behind her.

Changbin whirled around, catching Jimin in the midst of reaching his hand out, possibly to tap her shoulder. A small blush came across his cheeks as he quickly retracted his hand.

“Um, hi.” Jimin greeted nervously.

Changbin couldn’t help the wide smile that spread over her face. “Hi.” It was good to see him like this, seeming happy (albeit shy) and _alive._ It was a far cry from how she had last left him.

“I was—I didn’t want to bother you, but my friend kept harassing me to go over to talk to you, so I hope you don’t mind, or take this the wrong way, but—”

Changbin giggled at Jimin’s nervous rambling. Jimin’s voice trailed off at the sound, a smile stretching back across his face.

“Do you want to—I mean, are you—?”

“I’m Changbin.” Changbin said, saving Jimin from his fractured sentences. She held up her hand in greeting.

Jimin’s smile now seemed a permanent fixture on his face. “Jimin.” Jimin said, and Changbin breathed out a small sigh, _long time no see, Jimin-ah._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When CB says shes not a cheater shes not a cheater 💅🏻
> 
> Also, fun fact, kyungsoo is my exo bias lol he has the voice of an angel :') (When will he return from the war...)
> 
> Hope ya'll also enjoyed badass guardian angel Jaehyun, he's really fun to write ngl teehee
> 
> Things start to pick up next chapter, so stay tuned!
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	14. Crossing the chasm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jaehyun finds more than he bargained for, and just--Minsung

Jaehyun found himself in front of a rather nondescript building. The building’s sign read “Goshiwon,” and the streetlight out front was flickering. In fact, _all_ the streetlights were flickering, which was never a good sign.

Jaehyun steeled his shoulders and walked up to the front door. Jungkook was somewhere in here, that was all he knew.

He’d made to pull open the door when a different door caught his attention. This one was off to the side, not lit up by any sort of light, like someone didn’t want it to be found. Jaehyun backtracked down the front steps, siding over towards the wooden door. The padlock on it had been broken.

Jaehyun tore the door open, hurling down the steps into the darkness, thank God for his night vision (he supposed, literally).

He didn’t want to draw attention to himself prematurely though, so he crept along the walls when he reached the bottom. There was a faint bit of light coming from up ahead, and it was as good a guess as any to where Jungkook was.

Jaehyun came up to a corner, peeking across the wall to see Jungkook tied to a chair, looking passed out. That is, until his head rolled to the side.

“Hello, answer my question.” Kyungsoo said, patting Jungkook’s cheek patronizingly. Jaehyun’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you working for? Why were you following us?”

Jungkook’s head only continued its lolling motion, his eyes still appeared to be closed.

“You’ve got to be fucking me, I know you’re awake. Cut the shit already.” Kyungsoo said, this time slapping Jungkook hard across the face. Jaehyun felt the dull sting of the slap on his own face.

Jungkook’s eyes lazily opened, before his head whipped up in the direction of the assailant. The temperature of the room dropped several degrees. The two cultists stumbled back, because when Jungkook opened his eyes, they were very much _not_ his own. In fact, his eyes were _gone,_ and in the empty sockets was a swirling black wisp.

Jaehyun’s mouth dropped in astonishment. He’d never seen anything like it before, but it was clear to him that whatever was happening to Jungkook, it was _not_ Jungkook, and least—not fully.

 _Is he possessed?_ Jaehyun thought, watching in horrid fascination as the ropes tying his limbs to the chair disintegrated from his skin. The cultists gaping and stuttering at the display.

_That would explain the drop in temperature, but this—_

Jungkook stood up from the chair, a grin split across his face, far wider than was natural, showing two rows of sharp teeth. _This is no normal possession._

Jungkook grabbed Kyungsoo by the throat, the latter too shocked to move it seemed, and threw him clear across the room with a strength that was definitely _not_ natural. There came a loud crash from the direction Kyungsoo had been flung, making Jaehyun wince.

Jungkook turned his creepy grin towards the taller cultist, who stumbled back until his back was pressed up against a wall, unable to move any further. He held his hands before him.

“Whoa man, hold up, we can talk about this—”

Jungkook, didn’t even hesitate, steadily advancing on the human, until the human turned tail and bolted towards the door, screaming like the flames of Hell were licking at the heels of his feet.

The overhead lights had started to flicker. Jungkook turned to follow after the human but caught sight of Jaehyun instead. Jaehyun gulped, a small part of him wanted to teleport out of there and forget the whole thing, but it was still Jungkook, his _charge_ , and as much as he hated it, he couldn’t leave so easily. He was literally _bound_ to him.

Jungkook turned his empty gaze in Jaehyun’s direction, and a full body shiver racked through him. The look was so _other_ that Jaehyun felt a small spark of fear ignite inside him.

“J—Jungkook—” Jaehyun started, but Jungkook was inhumanely fast. Jaehyun cursed when Jungkook’s arm whipped out, trying to strike the angel. Jaehyun was barely able to move fast enough, grabbing hold of Jungkook’s arm. Jungkook hissed out in pain, a burn mark starting to form under Jaehyun’s grasp. Jaehyun yanked his hand away feeling a matching burning sensation on his own skin.

_That wasn’t supposed to happen._

He didn’t have time to gather himself before Jungkook punched out again, this time landing a blow squarely to Jaehyun’s temple. The angel staggered back, his eyes shining blue with heavenly light. He couldn’t hurt Jungkook, or he’d consequently hurt himself, but how else was he supposed to expel whatever it was that had a hold of him?

Jaehyun dodged Jungkook’s swings and kicks. They could have been at a rave for how frequently the overhead lights were flashing. It was making it difficult to see Jungkook’s moves in real time. One second, he’d lift a fist aimed for his head, and the next, Jaehyun would feel it jabbing into his gut.

No matter how hard he wracked his brain, the angel couldn’t think of another way to exorcise whatever was inside Jungkook, so he did the next best thing. The next time Jungkook’s fist came flying at him, he gripped him with both hands, gritting his teeth through the burning pain as he effectively inhibited Jungkook’s movements, reaching out to place a hand on the boy’s forehead.

Jungkook shrieked, a sound that was bone chillingly _not human._ Jaehyun should have been able to easily vanquish whatever had taken a hold of him, but instead, another burn mark had formed under his palm.

Jaehyun watched with morbid curiosity, as the burn continued to grow. A sharp pain shooting through his own forehead. A demonic laugh bubbled out of Jungkook’s throat, empty, swirling eyes somehow trained on Jaehyun, chilling him to the bones.

Jaehyun couldn’t think straight, his forehead was burning, and the energy he was pouring in to try and vanquish the creature was starting to take a toll on his body. With waning consciousness, Jaehyun hastily executed a plan B.

With the last bit of his energy, he sent a shockwave through Jungkook, it didn’t hurt him, but it was enough to knock him out completely. Jungkook’s sadistic grin quickly dropped from his face as his head tilted backwards. Jaehyun felt the room spin around him as both Jungkook and he slumped to the floor.

~

“Rude.” Jisung pouted after Minho had dragged him a good distance away from the ice cream parlor.

Minho let out a short laugh, “Changbin clearly had her own things to do without us there ruining it.” He said, releasing Jisung’s arm from his grasp. Jisung’s frown deepened, Minho fleetingly wondering if it was because he’d let go.

“You think it’s suspicious too though, right? Why was Changbin so interested in a random human guy? And an amateur ghost hunter, at that.” Jisung scoffed. The two walked side by side down the street, only a few other pedestrians ambling past them.

Minho shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets, “It’s not really our business, now is it.” He said.

Jisung shot him a dubious look, “Of course it’s my business, he’s—she’s— _Changbin’s_ my best friend.”

“Then ask Binnie about it later. She’ll probably tell you, Sung. If you are truly, as you say, _best friends_.”

“Don’t look down on me.” Jisung chastised, making Minho chuckle.

As they walked, the pleasant silence between them started to grow charged, with what? Minho wasn’t too keen on pinpointing. What he did know was that Jisung looked ethereal in the moonlight. The memory of the time Jisung and he had escaped Hell and ended up at Namsan’s overlook suddenly came back to him.

Jisung had looked just as beautiful then, painted in the blueish rays of the night sky. It seemed simultaneously fitting and ironic that a demon would look so angelic in the moonlight.

Jisung turned his face towards Minho, like he was about to say something, but Minho didn’t want to talk. He abruptly pulled Jisung off into an alleyway, the demon giving a squeak of surprise before Minho was dragging him into a searing kiss.

Minho wasn’t the best with feelings. He couldn’t quite push himself past the boundary of teasing banter with Jisung into coupley, lovey-dovey territory, but he hoped Jisung would understand how he felt through his actions.

Jisung gave a muffled sound as Minho pulled him impossibly closer, both hands on either side of the demon’s squishy cheeks. _God,_ Minho _loved_ those cheeks.

Minho’s eyes closed as he pulled and pushed at Jisung’s lips with a yearning and desperation he didn’t know he’d had.

Jisung’s hands wandered up to Minho’s shoulders, before hooking around his neck to press himself closer. Their heads tilted as their lips smashed harshly together. Minho wasn’t sure he was breathing, but fuck breathing, all he needed were Sungie’s kisses to keep him alive.

Even Jisung, who didn’t really need to breath, seemed to be having a hard time as the two refused to pull away from each other. He wished he could keep kissing Jisung forever, but Minho was still half human, and therefore, had to pull away eventually to suck in a few life functioning breaths.

Jisung whined, surging forwards to chase after Minho’s lips. Minho laughed when Jisung found his target. The breaths he’d just taken quickly being swallowed by the demon.

Jisung kept pushing further, however, until Minho’s back was right up against the wall, and still the demon pressed forwards, like if he kept going, he could merge his body into Minho’s, the two of them melting together to become one.

“Jisung,” Minho mumbled onto spit slick lips when Jisung’s hands traveled under Minho’s shirt, hiking up the fabric. Minho’s eyes rolled back at the feel of Jisung’s fingertips brushing ever so softly across his skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

Minho reached down, grabbing a handful of Jisung’s ass to pull the demon closer. Jisung gave a muffled sound of surprise before jumping up into Minho’s arms, hooking his arms back behind the cambion’s neck.

Minho flipped them around so it was Jisung’s back against the alley wall, offering more stability so Minho could let go of Jisung’s waist for an exploration of his own. His lips trailed down Jisung’s neck, licking and sucking as we went, loving the small gasps that left Jisung’s parted lips as each inch of his skin was ravished. He vaguely wondered if demons could bruise.

“Min,” Jisung breathed out, baring his neck for the other, “Minho,”

Minho hummed, preoccupied in leaving a trail of kisses down the other side of Jisung’s neck. His scent was intoxicating, his hair so soft between Minho’s fingers.

“Minho-ya,” Jisung called out endearingly. Minho felt a spike of something warm in his chest, a feeling he was afraid to admit out loud. Minho hummed in question, not wanting to pull away.

“I love you.” Jisung said breathlessly, and Minho’s heart stuttered. He pulled back from Jisung’s neck, wide eyes staring into the demon’s, which seemed to sparkle in the night. From the look on Jisung’s face, he must have been just as shocked by his confession.

“I—I mean, I know you’re—still trying to figure things out, but,” Jisung squeezed his eyes shut, tongue darting out to lick his lips as his hands flitted behind Minho’s neck, “I really do, I _love_ you, Lee Minho.” Jisung’s cheeks had a rosy pallor to them, making him somehow even more beautiful in the moonlight.

Minho’s mind was static noise, not sure what to process first, if he could even process any of it at all. “I—you—huh?” He said numbly.

The sparkling happiness in Jisung’s eyes dimmed. His face, once open and vulnerable, suddenly morphing into a mask of practiced indifference. The sight made Minho’s heart sink to his feet.

Minho quickly tried to remedy the situation. “No I mean, I—”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.” Jisung said curtly, lowering his legs back to the ground and pulling away from Minho. He left Jisung’s absence like a rip of his own skin.

Minho’s mind screamed at him to do something, to pull Jisung back towards him, to tell Jisung he felt the same way. But was he ready to go so far as to call this feeling—love?

Jisung let out a sad sigh as he crouched down to the ground, “Chan’s ice cream. It’s ruined.” He said, voice dejected as he poked at the fallen cup. The melted lemon ice cream trailed to form a small puddle on the ground like it was bleeding out. 

“Sungie—” Minho finally managed to say, pushing his way through his frazzled brain. Minho had started to reach for the demon when Jisung turned, standing back up to give Minho a sad smile. Minho thought, with a sudden pang in his chest, that it looked like Jisung was about to cry.

“It’s not that,” Minho started desperately, “I don’t—I’m just—” _Just what, what are you?_ Minho argued with himself, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

“Let’s just go back home.” Jisung’s strained voice came, he’d pushed past Minho, further into the alleyway, but Minho caught his arm.

_He was standing on the edge of a chasm._

“Jisung, _hyung_ ,” Minho called, effectively capturing Jisung’s attention, though when the demon turned around to face him, Minho almost wished he hadn’t. Jisung’s eyes were shining, but not with moonlight, not with happiness—but tears.

 _I can’t stand seeing you like this._ Minho thought, he wanted to say, but why was it so hard to form the words?

“It’s alright, Minho, I—”

“No. It’s not. You said you—you _love_ me, and I—”

_He was standing on the edge of a chasm, too caught up staring into its vastness to realize he’d missed Jisung standing there, waiting on the other side._

“Stop.” Jisung’s voice was shaking slightly, he looked up at Minho pleadingly. “Don’t—don’t say anything. I don’t know if I can handle it.” His voice was so soft, Minho worried he wouldn’t have heard it if a gust of wind had blown through, even the gentlest breeze strong enough to take his fragile words along with it. 

_Jisung was standing on the other side, and there was a bridge, further down that spanned across the chasm. It looked rather rickety, sure, but seeing it gave Minho hope. All he had to do was cross that bridge—_

“Can we just _please_ go home?” Jisung begged, tugging lightly on Minho’s hand.

“Home,” Minho mumbled, “Where is that?” His question seemed to catch Jisung off guard.

“W—what?”

_All he had to do was cross it, and join Jisung on the other side._

“Home, where is it?” Minho asked again, a sense of clarity sparked within him as he met Jisung’s confused expression.

“I’ve lived in Seoul all my life. 22 years in the human realm, and you’d think I’d call this home, but now, when I walk through these streets, all I can think about is how many humans there are going through their daily lives, completely oblivious to the demons, and angels, and creatures that I _know_ surround them. I think about how odd it is that all these humans are living normal lives, and how that feels so _wrong_. 22 years I’ve lived in this realm, and yet, if I had a choice, I don’t think I’d choose this place as my home.”

 _The bridge_ was _rickety, and Minho felt like he one wrong step would cause him to fall._

Jisung stayed silent, only staring as Minho continued.

“And when I’m in Hell, I’m _scared._ God, Sung, everything is so foreign. I feel like I’m walking on eggshells through an alien planet. That I’m seconds away from being found out as an imposter and tossed over into the pits of Hell. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the heat of Hell, the creatures that stare at me the same way I stare back at them, with an unsettling feeling that I don’t _belong.”_

 _He was halfway across the bridge, he could make out Jisung on the other side. His figure getting clearer and clearer as Minho made his way across._ Don’t look down.

Jisung visibly gulped, eyes darting down, away from Minho at his confession. Minho reached out, gently lifting Jisung’s chin until their eyes met again.

“And yet, even with all that—I don’t care. I couldn’t care less if I’m in this realm, or in Hell, or wherever else this terrifying world has to offer. Do you know why?” He’d meant it as a rhetorical question, but Jisung shook his head, and Minho couldn’t help his fond smile.

“I don’t know where I belong, Sung, but what I do know is that when I’m with you, wherever that may be, I feel safe, content, I feel— _loved_ ,” Minho brushed his thumb across Jisung’s cheek softly. Jisung’s eyes shining unshed tears as he stared back at Minho like he held all the stars in the sky.

“I guess that to me, home is wherever you are, and if that’s _love_ , then—I really love you too, Sungie, so much it hurts.”

Jisung let out a strong breath, like he’d been holding it in the entire time. He reached his hands up to cup Minho’s cheeks.

“Do you really mean that?” Jisung’s asked, eyes searching Minho’s.

_He’d stepped off the bridge onto solid ground. Jisung was there. Jisung, who had been waiting for him all along, welcomed him with open arms. And the chasm fell away behind them._

Minho nodded, lips pursed due to Jisung’s squeezing. Jisung let out a short laugh, what looked a lot like relief flashing through his eyes before he surged forwards and brought Minho’s lips back onto his own.

This kiss was much softer than it had been not 10 minutes earlier. Gentle like they were afraid of breaking each other, afraid of breaking this feeling between them.

Minho wrapped his arm around Jisung’s waist firmly, happy to have Jisung back so close to him. The heat radiating off of the demon was enough to last Minho through the coldest winter. Not that that really mattered down in Hell, but for the moment, Minho basked in it.

“I love you,” Jisung murmured against Minho’s lips. “I love you a lot.”

“I love you too.” Minho said back. His heart twisted in his chest at the happiness just three words mumbled from Jisung could bring him.

It truly didn’t matter to Minho where they ended up, everything suddenly seemed right in the world. As long as Jisung was there with him, he’d make it through anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can we say cheeeessee?? What whatt  
> Hope you all enjoyed a much needed dose of Minsung :’)


	15. Make it right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they wonder where the Golden Fillet could be hiding, Jaehyun's not sure if he has more answers or question, and Changlix have a much needed conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to make this 2 different chapters but I was impatient to get it out there lol so here you go!

Felix and Hyunjin had already convened with Chan by the time Minho and Jisung arrived. The two demons had a slightly reddish tint to their cheeks that Hyunjin was pretty sure had nothing to do with the heat.

“Erm, are you guys okay?” Hyunjin asked with a raised eyebrow. His eyes traveled down to their intertwined pinkies.

“Fine.”

“Perfect.” They chirped, not making eye contact.

“Ookay,” Felix said, eyeing them once before going back to Chan, “So what we’ve got so far, is that the crown is sentient, and it may be hiding somewhere of its own volition, that’s just _great_.”

“If I were a crown, where would I hide,” Hyunjin mused, rubbing at his non-existent beard.

“If you were a controlling, demon crown, where would you hide?” Felix corrected.

“The Monkey King wasn’t a demon.” Hyunjin pointed out. Felix waved his hand in dismissal.

Chan sighed, taking in the two demons who were still keeping to themselves off to the side. They kept stealing glances at each other, soft smiles and shy looks, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

“Where’s my ice cream?” Chan asked in all seriousness.

“Erm, right, about that—” Jisung started.

“Honestly, just be glad it’s gone. Jisung got you lemon, which is the worst flavor possible, so consider it a favor.” Minho rectified. 

Chan’s frown turned to a pout, “You got me lemon? But that’s my favorite!”

Minho’s eyes grew wide in disbelief, turning to Jisung who looked even more sheepish. “Sorry, hyung.” Was all Jisung said. Chan let out a long, forlorn sigh, pushing up from his seat at his desk.

“Alright, so we’re looking for a sentient crown that was forced into hiding. I’m going to guess it’s not too happy about that.” Chan said.

“What are you suggesting?” Felix asked, not following. Hyunjin wondered if any of them were.

“Well, where would you go if you were forced to hide?” Chan asked, stopping at the side of his desk to look at Felix. Felix’s eyebrows furrowed at the question.

“Somewhere fun.” Jisung said wistfully.

“What?” Felix asked, turning in his direction.

“If I was forced to hide and didn’t want to, screw that. I’d hide somewhere where I could still have fun.” Jisung elaborated, crossing his arms defiantly over his chest. Minho pouted at the action, probably because it had taken Jisung’s pinky away from his.

“Where on earth would a crown have ‘fun?’” Felix asked, letting out a laugh of incredulity.

Jisung shrugged, “Where does anyone go to have fun?”

“An amusement park.” Minho said at the same time Hyunjin said, “The cemetery.” They all turned in the angel’s direction.

“What?” Hyunjin asked, curling his lip, “It’s peaceful okay! And the ghosts are fun to watch, sometimes. There was this one time though, two ghosts started fighting, and they accidently knocked over a tombstone, and then _that_ ghost came out of the ground ready to throw hands, and then actually _did_ throw just his hand which hit the other ghost in the eye, and the cemetery ghost security had to come and break up the fight, but a ghost bear heard the commotion from the forest and got angry, and—” Hyunjin trailed off at the various expressions of confusion, annoyance, and extreme interest.

Hyunjin coughed, “So yeah, amusement parks?”

Felix frowned, “Speculation isn’t much to go off of.”

“Well, we don’t have much else to work with, do we.” Chan sighed, “All we know is that the crown is sentient, that it’s in hiding, and it would be disastrous if Lucifer got a hold of it first.”

At that moment, a girl materialized into the room, her long black hair framed her face from view, and she had on a long, four sizes too big winter coat, which was laughable attire to be wearing in Hell.

Hyunjin could only stare as the girl’s hair shifted, revealing a shy smile that slipped off her face the moment she laid eyes on Felix.

 _Hold on a second, I feel like I’ve seen her before,_ Hyunjin mused, physically stopping himself from stroking his nonexistent beard once again.

Felix’s eyes had grown to the size of grapefruits. “C—Changbin?” He sputtered. The girl— _Changbin! That’s who she looks like,_ stared back with a similarly shook expression, quickly taking off the coat draped over her shoulder’s like she’d been caught stealing.

“You—why are you—?” Felix couldn’t finish a single sentence, the tips of his ears turning redder and redder the longer he stared at Changbin.

Changbin shrugged without explaining further. She wouldn’t meet Felix’s eyes again. Hyunjin worried his bottom lip, this was a lot worse than he’d been expecting their situation to be.

Hyunjin sidled up to Felix, close enough that he could elbow him discretely to tell him to do something. _Now’s your chance! Don’t fuck it up!_

Felix side eyed Hyunjin apprehensively, and Hyunjin’s heart went out for the angel. He had a lot of meddling to do.

“Isn’t girl Changbin hot, Felix?” Jisung asked teasingly, Hyunjin shot him a wide-eyed look, but Jisung paid him no attention. “I think she looks good like this. Though the fishnets might have been taking it a bit too far, _noona.”_ Jisung snickered when Changbin threateningly raised an arm at him.

Felix cleared his throat, “Yeah, Changbin looks good no matter what she looks like.” Felix said confidently, affectively capturing Changbin’s attention.

“By the way, what did happen to you? You said something about your past—” The rest of Jisung’s sentence was muffled behind Changbin’s hand, who had started to drag the demon backwards towards the doors. Minho looked after them a little helplessly, like he wasn’t sure if he should help Jisung or follow.

“I’m just going to be borrowing Sungie here, for a bit. Don’t mind me.” Changbin said with a forced smile that held a promise for revenge. Hyunjin smiled back in amusement.

“Take care! Don’t throw him into the flames too hastily! We still need him as our scapegoat!” Hyunjin called jovially after them. Jisung held up his middle finger in Hyunjin’s direction. Hyunjin wiggled his fingers in goodbye.

~

Jaehyun regained consciousness with a start, bolting upright on the ground. _I’ve got to stop waking up like this._ Jaehyun thought with a sigh, he hoped getting knocked unconscious wasn’t going to become a common occurrence around Jungkook.

_Oh right, Jungkook._

The boy was still sprawled on the cement floor across from him, he seemed to even be snoring softly. Jaehyun couldn’t help the amused scoff that left his lips, before quickly sobering out of it when the recent events came flooding back to his mind.

That was no regular possession, if that’s even what that _was_. Jaehyun had never heard of burn marks forming from an angel’s touch. On demons, perhaps, but never humans. Whatever was inside Jungkook had an unnerving amount of power, since an angel’s exorcism hadn’t affected it in the slightest.

Jaehyun crawled over to the boy, assessing the damage. _He seems—fine enough._ Jaehyun thought, though there were reddish burn marks on both his wrists, and an angry palm mark on his forehead. Jaehyun grimaced at the sight, reaching out to heal them.

He was in the midst of doing so when Jungkook let out a small groan, shuffling to push himself up. Jaehyun jumped, half worried Jungkook would still be possessed, half flustered at getting caught healing him.

The angel let out a little sigh of relief when Jungkook’s perfectly _normal_ human eyes, met his.

“What happened?” Jungkook asked, voice gruff. Jaehyun watched as the boy felt at his wrists absentmindedly. _He really must not remember a thing._

“You were—possessed, or something.” Jaehyun said uneasily, still not sure what had happened. Jungkook’s eyes widened, before closing in distress.

“Fuck.” He breathed out.

“Does this happen a lot with you?” Jaehyun asked, feeling like he was onto something. There was a certain resigned look on Jungkook’s face, a lack of surprise that seemed to say he’d been through this before.

Jungkook gave him a weary look. “I—” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s my curse.”

Jaehyun’s mouth opened, his curiosity instantly spiked. “Your curse,” he repeated, prompting Jungkook to go on.

“I—don’t really know all that much about it, to be honest.” Jungkook looked down absently at his hands, “I’m not sure what it is, like a weird, demonic hulk I guess.”

Jaehyun did not know what a “hulk” was, but he let it slide for Jungkook to continue his explanation.

“I think it’s triggered when I’m under attack, or when it feels threatened.” Jungkook ran a shaky hand through his brown hair. “I guess I can’t be all too mad about it, since it’s saved me more than once, but I can’t help the feeling that it’s not so much trying to _save me_ as it is trying to _kill_.” Jungkook’s voice had grown softer and softer towards the end, like he was afraid of admitting it out loud.

Jaehyun’s frown deepened. He’d grappled with the thing face to face, and he felt reluctant to validate the fact that he agreed with Jungkook. Whatever it was was out for blood. He suddenly remembered the man Jungkook had thrown and glanced over in that direction, but it was obscured by a wall.

“The worst part,” Jungkook continued, “Is that I don’t have any control over it. I can’t ever remember what happened when I wake up.” Jungkook said angrily, his knuckles turning white as his hands curled tightly into fists.

Jaehyun didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t even sure if he should mention the fact that Jungkook had most likely killed someone, granted it had been a cultist, and their lives were hardly worth saving in Jaehyun’s opinion.

Jaehyun had also never heard of anything like that happening in the centuries he’d been an angel. Even if he did want to comfort Jungkook (which he did _not,_ mind you), he had no reassuring words to say it would be alright, that they could fix this, because Jaehyun wasn’t even sure what _this_ was.

Jungkook finally looked back up at him, his doe eyes such a stark contrast from the malicious black swirls from before. Jaehyun felt a phantom shiver run down his spine.

Jungkook raised a finger to gesture at his forehead. “You have a—” Jungkook’s sentence tapered off as Jaehyun’s own hand shot up to his forehead. He supposed if Jungkook had a mark there, then he must have too, though it should have faded away by now, with his rapid angelic healing and all.

“And your wrists—” Jungkook made to reach out to Jaehyun, stopping midway at the same moment Jaehyun pulled his hands back. Jungkook cleared this throat through the tense silence.

“Well, that was a bust. I didn’t get anything of importance out of them, and they ended up getting the best of me instead.” Jungkook growled disappointedly, standing up from the floor only to stumble.

“Whoa.” Jaehyun exclaimed, shooting up to grab a hold of Jungkook’s arms on instinct. Jungkook made a small, strangled noise after catching his bearings, tugging his arms out of Jaehyun’s grasp.

“Thanks.” Jungkook mumbled before briskly walking towards the stairs. Jaehyun only stared after the human, before his eyes flickered up to the lights, lights that were on, and staying on. It seemed their rave from earlier was officially over.

Jaehyun sighed, mind still reeling over Jungkook’s curse. He was about to follow after the human when the lights flickered a little. Jaehyun stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes at them, “I swear to God if you—”

Jihyo suddenly appeared in front of him, and the lights immediately blew out.

Jaehyun barked out a laugh, “Jihyo, so nice of you to pop in.”

“I’m here for your report, and nothing more, Jaehyun.” Jihyo said sternly, her stance tense across from Jaehyun. She scrunched her nose in distaste as she took in their surroundings. Jaehyun gave her a tight smile.

“What’s with the tone? We can be more cordial than that. Let’s take one from the humans, talk about it over some drinks.”

Jihyo did not look amused, “We’re angels, we don’t drink.”

“Ah ah, that’s where you’re wrong.” Jaehyun said, his smile turned patronizing. He knew fully well Jihyo wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t stop him from messing with her. “Come on, just one drink.”

“No.” Jihyo said, exasperation not hidden from her voice.

“Just one—”

“Jaehyun. Given me your report now before I make someone else take them from you. And I can guarantee they won’t be as nice about it.”

Jaehyun grit his teeth, letting out a scoff. Where would he even begin to start? Too much had happened in simply the span of one week. There was the whole cult fiasco, Jeongin blowing up two of their members, their failed mission, Jungkook’s “non” possession, the fact that another cultist had most likely been killed by said possession—Jaehyun wondered if he should even tell Jihyo about all this. Wondered if it was anything she didn’t already know.

Jaehyun opened his mouth, when Jungkook walked back in.

“Oh, um, hello?” Jungkook said, making them turn in his direction. “Are you—oh.” Jungkook said in realization, “Another angel.”

Jihyo gave Jungkook a kind smile, Jaehyun was temporarily shocked, he hadn’t known Jihyo was capable of making such an expression.

“You must be Jungkook.” She said kindly, “Sorry to have to stick _him_ on you.” She jabbed a thumb in Jaehyun’s direction.

Jungkook let out a little surprised laugh, “Yeah, well. Maybe he’s not so bad to have around, sometimes.” Jungkook said softly, hands rubbing at his wrists. His silver bracelet tinkling at the motion.

Jaehyun was now extremely shocked by Jungkook words, it seemed Jihyo was too from the way the angel’s mouth opened and closed like a koi fish.

Jaehyun preened, he couldn’t help it, giving Jihyo a “ _hah!”_ look when she turned back around suspiciously.

“Right, well then—report.” Jihyo said, crossing her arms across her chest. Jaehyun caught Jungkook’s eye over her shoulder. Jungkook was making vague gestures, Jaehyun’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, _what the fuck does that mean?_ He tried to relay to the human, Jungkook rolled his eyes in exasperation, pointing to himself, twisting his face as he made menacing claw hands, and crossing his arms in a big “X.”

 _Oh,_ Jaehyun thought, that he understood.

“Well, nothing much to report.” Jaehyun said dismissively, “I follow the human around, he goes to work at the police office, we follow meaningless leads, and then the whole day repeats itself.”

Jaehyun was nothing if not an incredible liar. Though he couldn’t help feel a twinge of guilt as the memory brought back Chan’s disappointed face, twisted and hurt by the fact that Jaehyun had lied to him for so long. Jaehyun’s heart hung heavy in his chest, almost forgetting Jihyo was still there watching him.

He looked up to her suspiciously narrowed eyes, turning up the innocence by widening his own infinitesimally.

Eventually, Jihyo huffed out a breath, “Ok. Good. See you next week. And let us know immediately if something comes up.” Jihyo said, turning back to Jungkook with a nod before disappearing.

Jungkook and Jaehyun both let out a sigh, before straightening, staring at each other warily at their synchronization.

“Let’s get out of here.” Jungkook said, tilting his head up towards the entrance. “I need to debrief too to Yoongi.”

Jaehyun nodded, “You go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”

Jungkook raised an eyebrow questioningly, but didn’t argue further. Jaehyun waited until he was gone before making his way over to the body he was expecting to find in the corner. However—all he found were fallen boxes, broken wooden shelves, and a human shaped indent in the cement ground.

Jaehyun frowned. If that indent was formed how he though it had—there was no way that cultist made it out alive. But then—where was the body?

Jaehyun crouched down near the human shaped divot to examine it further. There weren’t even any traces of blood in the area. His frown deepened. Something wasn’t right here, though Jaehyun didn’t know what. He felt a strange sense of unsettling energy around him, like he was missing something important.

 _So the cultist hadn’t died?_ But just what the hell happened to him?

Jaehyun straightened, not seeing anything else that could clue him into what had happened. He walked towards the basement entrance, relieved enough that Jungkook hadn’t ended up killing anybody.

If anyone were going to die, it would be by Jaehyun’s hands.

~

“People have got to stop dragging me out of places.” Jisung pouted once Changbin, who had a surprisingly strong grip considering the dainty size of her wrists, let go of Jisung’s arm.

Changbin grinned wryly, “Lucky for you I’m not a _person.”_

“Oh don’t say that about yourself,” Jisung teased, throwing a frown at Changbin, “You have every right to be your own—” Jisung stopped short at the look on Changbin’s face. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Hm?” Changbin asked, looking up at Jisung with a caught expression. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

Jisung eyed the winter coat still in her hands, “Where’d you get that? A little warm for Hell, don’t you think?”

Changbin smiled shyly, “Well…”

_Changbin shivered involuntarily when they stepped out of the ice cream parlor. Her outfit wasn’t exactly meant for the cold winters of Korea._

_“Here,” Jimin said, taking off his coat to wrap around Changbin before she could protest._

_“What—?”_

_“Just—think of it as insurance, so I can see you again.” Jimin said, his eyes crinkling into crescents as he smiled. Changbin couldn’t help but smile back. Jimin seemed to have that effect on her._

_“Alright.” Changbin easily agreed. She’d already been planning on seeing him again anyways. “I’ll see you around then, Jimin-ah.” She said, giving the boy a sweet smile before turning to walk away._

_“W—wait! Don’t you need my number? How will you find me again?” Jimin called after her. Changbin turned back around, amused at the worried look in his eyes._

_“Don’t worry, I have my ways.”_

“And yeah.” Changbin said, shrugging her shoulders. Jisung only gaped at her story.

“You? Wow,” Jisung exclaimed, covering his mouth in a dramatic display of shock. “You really are something else, Binnie. And you have a lot of explaining to do. How do you know that human? Why are you suddenly a girl? Where did you disappear off to, really?”

Changbin held out her hands placatingly. “Alright, alright, I’ll tell you, but—not here.” Jisung looked around them from where they stood in the hallway, multiple demons passing by. Some eyed them curiously, but none dared to bother them. Part of the “Unholy Trinity” and all.

“Right.” Jisung agreed, tilting his head to the right. Changbin followed after him, and the two easily wove their way through the hallways of Hell, crossing a bridge until they came across the somewhat hidden lookout Jisung loved so much. There was nothing quite like a good view of the blazingly tall Hellfires of the pit, and the faint screams of the damned in the distance.

Jisung made himself at home on a flat rock, patting the spot next to him enthusiastically for Changbin to sit down. She did, and the two watched the blistering Hellfires as Changbin told him her story. How she went to the past for the Keeper of Time, how she’d been given a glimpse of her past life, how she’d died—Jisung listened to it all, enraptured. Ending up angry by the end of it.

“What the fuck,” Jisung seethed, his heartbeat pounding. “That fuckers got it all wrong, Binnie. You’re not _nothing_ ,” Jisung sputtered, the mere thought of it made him blind with anger, “You’re _everything_. You’re fucking _Changbin_ , you make up 1/3 of the Unholy Trinity of Hell, survivor of unjust imprisonment. You’re so strong, stronger than I’ll ever be.”

Changbin scoffed, shouldering Jisung.

“What? It’s true!” Jisung argued, anger sizzling down a little at the small smile on Changbin’s lips. Jisung would go down to the pit and beat up the bastard king with his own bare hands if it came down to it. He’d hurt anyone that made Changbin feel like shit.

“That’s very nice of you Jisungie. Are you sure you’re a demon?”

“Ha ha, yeah sure, all demons are evil sadists who don’t care about shit let alone good friendships. They’d rather waste their days away taking candy from babies and taxing the crap out of the adults until they cry like the children they’d taken candy from.”

Changbin laughed, a sound so familiar and yet new, though it made Jisung feel the same either way. A spark of endearment and love flickering inside him, much like the Hellfires they were watching.

“You were really offered to be an angel?” Jisung asked, though he wasn’t that surprised, Changbin had always been the kindest of them all. It was why they’d all been so shocked to see the shapeshifter do things Changbin could never have done. Jisung wondered how they’d all been so blind, how they’d all doomed Changbin to that nasty prison cell, all alone, thinking his friends would come save him, but they never did.

“Yeah.” Changbin nodded. And Jisung had stiffened, worried for a second that Changbin had read his mind, before remembering he’d asked her a question.

“That’s—wow.” Jisung couldn’t think of the right words to say. “That sure would have made thing’s easier with Felix, huh?”

Changbin shrugged again, looking less jovial than before.

“Are you guys—okay?” Jisung asked, bracing himself for backlash, but Changbin only looked up at him, an unreadable expression on her face.

“We’re—fine? I guess, I don’t know. It’s—complicated. I love him, of course I do, I’m just—”

“Scared?” Jisung supplied. It was how he had felt about Minho, anyways. He’d been constantly worried he’d push too far and only drive Minho away. His heart gave a little flutter at the thought of Minho and him now, but he kept it to the side. Now was about Changbin and Felix, not Minho and him.

“That’s one word for it.” Changbin said noncommittally.

“I know how difficult it is for you guys, you know, with being a demon and angel and all. Heaven and Hell aren’t exactly ringing the choir bells for you.” Jisung said empathetically.

Changbin gave him a curious look, but Jisung decided to breeze over explaining his questionable analogies, “You’re probably the only angel-demon couple ever!”

Changbin scoffed, “Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better.” Jisung shot him an apologetic look. “There’s also Hyunjin and Jeongin though.” Changbin pointed out.

Jisung’s mouth opened, “Are they dating?”

“Oh, aren’t they? I guess I just assumed, since they live together.”

“I always thought that was just a roomie situation, but now that you mention it—”

Someone cleared their throat behind them. The two friends turned to see Felix standing there, looking extremely out of place, his face was lit up by Hellfire, saturating the angel in an orangey-red glow instead of his usual blue and white.

“Felix!” Changbin exclaimed in surprise. Jisung slowly stood up from his seat, taking Jimin’s winter coat with him. 

“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Jisung started back tracking towards the bridge, giving Changbin a _“talk to him!”_ look when Changbin shot him one of betrayal.

Changbin hadn’t explicitly said what she was doing with Jimin, but Jisung was sure she still loved Felix, and he wasn’t ready to watch the two of them give up so easily. Satan knows they’d been through too much together for that.

~

The two stood in silence for a while after Jisung had gone.

“Do you wanna sit?” Changbin asked somewhat awkwardly, gesturing towards the spot Jisung had just vacated.

“Erm, sure.” Felix said, walking somewhat stiffly to sit next to Changbin. He squinted into the flames of the Hellfire. “I um, got this for you.” Felix said, bringing his hands out from behind his back to thrust a dusty colored teal plushie into Changbin’s hands.

Changbin gasped, “Gyu!” she hugged the plushie to her involuntarily, cheeks heating up when she realized what she’d done, and quickly set the plushie in her lap with a cough.

“I went back to the forest to try and find Gyu, but he was rather—” Felix made vague mangled gestures with his hands, “Anyways, I didn’t think you’d really want to see that, so I got a new Gyu instead.”

Changbin was touched by the thoughtfulness. _Leave it to Felix to think of things like that._ Changbin smiled, placing her hand on top of Felix’s, effectively catching his attention. His eyes dragged up to meet hers, and Changbin could clearly see the insecurity that was there. It was one she felt mimicked in herself.

She leaned closer to Felix. “Thank you.” She said simply, not daring to lean any further. It seemed Felix wasn’t either, he stared at Changbin, eyes going a little cross eyed as their proximity making Changbin giggle.

“You’re beautiful.” Felix breathed out, Changbin’s heart squeeze. It wasn’t the first time Felix had told her, but it made her breath catch every time.

“I could say the same about you.” Changbin said back cheekily, “Though perhaps not in this lighting, you’re completely oversaturated down here.”

Felix chuckled, “You look beautiful in any lighting.”

Changbin pouted, “Ok, now you’re making me feel bad.”

“Maybe if you let me kiss you, I’ll let it slide?” Felix suggested, voice wavering only slightly.

Changbin hummed in fake contemplation, “Okay.” She said softly, closing her eyes as Felix’s lips pressed up against hers. Tentatively at first, like he was afraid Changbin would pull away, but Changbin melted into the kiss. The heat of Hell and the kiss combined making her feel far hotter than she normally would.

Felix brought his hand up, weaving through Changbin’s hair to cup the back of her neck. Changbin pushed closer contentedly, loving the way Felix’s lips moved against hers. Like waves lapping at the sand, they moved in unison.

Eventually, Felix pulled back, lips shiny from spit that reflected from the Hellfire. 

“I missed you.” Felix breathed, caressing Changbin’s puffy cheeks. There was a certain rawness in his gaze that made Changbin’s toes curl.

“I missed you too, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for. If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry, I’m _so sorry_ Changbin, for not finding you sooner—”

Changbin hushed him, pulling him into a hug. “You’ve already apologized about that. ‘M not mad about that, not anymore.” She muttered at the end.

“So—what are you mad with me about?”

Changbin pulled back (much to Felix’s disappointment) so she could see Felix’s face.

“I’m not mad at you at all.” She started, there was still a doubtful look on Felix’s face. “Ok, maybe just a bit—worried.”

“Worried?” Felix parroted, capturing Changbin’s hands in his. “Worried about what?”

Changbin looked down, “It’s embarrassing, I don’t wanna say.”

“Binnie,” Felix called, patient, though Changbin knew that wasn’t the angel’s strong suit, he was trying, for her.

“I just—sometimes I get the feeling that I—” Changbin sucked in a breath, summoning all her courage, “That I love you more than you love me. That I’d give up everything for you, but you wouldn’t for me.”

 _There, I said it._ Changbin said with a sense of shock at her own words. She tensed in Felix’s hold, worried what the angel would say.

“Impossible. I love you so much.” Felix said immediately, voice cracking. Changbin looked up at him. “Do you know how hard it was for me to see you like that? Reliving your past? I wanted more than anything to take you away, to kick that fucking King over the bridge, to punch that prince away when he kissed you. I was angry at him, for letting his own father kill you, I was angry at _me,_ for not being able to save you, _again_.”

Changbin nodded, “I _know_ how you feel, Felix. I know you love me.” she started, “But it’s not just about how you feel sometimes, it’s also about what you do. Hiding me out in your room in Heaven was okay at first, but it starts to weigh on you when your boyfriend doesn’t want to be seen with you.”

Felix stared at Changbin in shock, Changbin set her jaw, she wasn’t going to back down this time. No matter how scared it made her, these words needed to be said.

“I’d hold your hand happily and parade you through the streets telling everyone that his angel right here? That’s my boyfriend.” Changbin left out the part that that was probably what got her imprisoned by the shapeshifter in the first place, Changbin’s inability to keep her mouth shut about her amazing angel boyfriend.

“But with you, I don’t think you’ve told anyone we’re dating.” Changbin said. It wasn’t an accusation; it was a fact.

Felix snapped his mouth shut, “Everyone who matters knows we’re dating.”

“That’s not the point, Lix, it’s the fact that you’re worried about being seen with a demon, and how the other angels are going to take it, am I right?” She knew she was.

Felix had a hard look in his eyes that kind of made Changbin want to pull away.

“Alright.” Felix started, “Starting from today, everyone will know that you are my boy—girlfriend.” Felix said, quickly fixing his slip up. Changbin wanted to laugh, but she was too surprised.

“Eh?” She voiced instead. Felix pulled her to a standing position.

“I’m going to tell everyone; you better be prepared for that. I’ll yell it to the world that CHANGBIN IS MY GIRLFRIEND. SHE’S MINE. SO NO ONE’S ALLOWED TO TOUCH HER!” Felix yelled over the lookout. A good amount of demons crossing the bridges beneath looked up at them startled, confused, one even shouted “oh, shut up!”

Changbin’s cheeks were aflame, she tugged at Felix to get away from the ledge.

“Yah, Felix!” Changbin hissed.

“What? You said everyone should know, so I’m telling them. IF YOU SO MUCH AS LOOK AT HER I _WILL_ SMITE YOU.” Felix yelled, eyeing one random demon especially threateningly.

“Felix!” Changbin called again, pretty sure she was seconds away from combusting, or stopping a full out fight between Felix and a demon with a noise complaint. 

Felix turned to her with a playful expression on his face. It was so starkly different from his serious expression from before that it gave Changbin severe whiplash.

He pulled Changbin close to him, so their bodies pressed against each other. “You’re right, I should have been showing you off like you deserve. There’s no one else I’d rather be with, Binnie. I can’t—I can’t live without you. The year you were gone? I couldn’t function, couldn’t do anything they asked of me in Heaven. At one point, they debated kicking me out, but even _then—_ I missed you. I missed you so much.”

Changbin felt the beginning of tears prickling behind her eyes. _God, had she missed Felix too._

“Wanna come with me?” Felix proposed, holding both her hands, “I’ll parade you around Heaven right now to let everyone know—”

“Umm, maybe some other time.” Changbin placated, tugging Felix away. Felix reached down to grab Gyu as Changbin pulled the angel after her.

“What? Why not?” Felix frowned, sounding actually disappointed. Changbin shot him a bewildered gaze, not sure if she really liked the turn of events. She scoffed, smile spreading across her face anyways.

“Another time, Lix. Now, there’s much better thing’s I want to do with you.”

“Oh.” Felix said, wide eyes staring at Changbin as she hauled him off. “I’m not going to argue with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter things start to pick up again~  
> And as always, thanks so much for reading and commenting guys :') <3
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	16. Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jeongin has a telling dream, and they devise a plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't tell you how many times I've rewritten this chapter, I'm not completely thrilled with how it turned out, but at this point I just have to post it to avoid going insane 🙏

Jeongin found himself walking through an overgrown path. Weeds poked out of the cement, creating their own urban garden. Jeongin wasn’t sure where he was, all he knew was that wherever it was had long since been used.

The colors on the buildings before him were faded by the ages, yellowed pinks and browned white paint chipping from the dilapidated structures.

Jeongin followed the path, keeping far away from a deteriorating clown statue that had no right to be so scary looking considering Jeongin himself was an actual demon from Hell.

The path eventually led to giant, curving, metal tracks that seemed to lead into the sky before plunging back down. Jeongin tilted his head back to take it all in. Curling vines wrapped around the metal structure, giving the whole place an eerie air.

Jeongin couldn’t hear a single sound, not even the subtle whistle of a breeze, or the leaves rustling around him. It was so quiet he thought he could hear his own heart beating in his ears, his blood thrumming through his veins.

The hairs on Jeongin’s body stood up, ears twitching atop his head. It was far too silent _._ He abruptly turned on his heels, scrambling back down the path he’d came. He didn’t know where he was going, just that he had to _get out of there_.

He had just made it past the creepy clown when a shining golden light blinded him. He tripped on the uneven pavement, hands scrapping the ground as he caught himself.

Jeongin looked up, following the golden light to where it emanated from a building that looked rather intact. The red and orange paint of the walls gleamed as if freshly polished. The multiple level curves of the pavilion architecture perfectly sculpted.

Jeongin picked himself off the ground and made his way towards the building as if in a trance. He made it as far as the arched entryway, gripping the sides as he squinted into the room. The reflecting light he thought he’d seen turned out to be a glow.

Something was glowing, so golden that Jeongin’s eyes started hurt from staring at it for too long. The rational part of him screamed to run away, but a bigger part of him wanted to get closer, like it was calling out to him.

Jeongin made to step inside the pavilion when a shadow figure appeared out of the dark corners of the room, the golden glow somehow not bright enough to illuminate it, but Jeongin knew who it was. Knew all too well who it was. _Lucifer._

Lucifer turned towards Jeongin, and the demon’s blood froze over.

“Innie, nice of you to join me.” Lucifer drawled, before he reached up to the source of the light, and the blinding flash jolted Jeongin awake with a gasp.

Jeongin squinted as yet another bright light assaulted his eyes. He buried his head further into its resting place in attempt to block out the invasive sunlight.

“You okay?” Seungmin’s voice came right next to his ear. Jeongin blinked, looking up to see Seungmin’s face mere inches away from his. He watched Jeongin curiously, brown hair even redder in the sunlight, blowing into his face with the breeze.

Seungmin looked so _human_ without his wings that Jeongin could almost pretend nothing had happened to him. That he was still the same human boy from when they’d first met.

Jeongin took in his surroundings dazedly. They were currently on a park bench, overlooking the Han river. _Right, you were with Seungmin, you must have fallen asleep and you had another dream._

Except this wasn’t just any other dream because this time, he _remembered_.

“Seungie—I think I know where the Golden Fillet is.” Jeongin said, eyes widening in realization. Seungmin’s mouth opened in a little gasp.

“You do? How?” Seungmin’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

“You’re not going to like it.” Jeongin pursed his lips.

“What won’t we like?” A new voice came from right behind them. Seungmin and Jeongin both screamed, nearly falling off the bench at Hyunjin’s sudden appearance.

“Hyunjin! Jesus Christ!” Seungmin said, hand over his heart like an old lady.

“Please,” Hyunjin scoffed, a wide grin on his face. “I’m a _lot_ more handsome than him.”

“Amen to that.” Jeongin said.

Hyunjin threw an arm around each boy. “I missed you,” he whined, his back hug turning more into a headlock.

“You were barely gone for two days.” Jeongin squawked out. Though his words showed indifference, he had missed Hyunjin too, a lot.

“So, what is it? What won’t we like?” Hyunjin’s grin turned into an exaggerated pout, eyes sliding over to Jeongin, “You didn’t blow something up, did you?”

“What? No! That’s—”

“Innie know’s where the Golden Fillet is!” Seungmin said before Jeongin could answer himself.

“Oh?” Hyunjin remarked, “I just spent a whole afternoon researching with Lixie, and all we got was that it was alive and in hiding.”

“Interesting,” Jeongin mused, he supposed the glow of the crown did make it seem like it was alive. And based on its well-kept surroundings amidst decay, he’d say it wasn’t very natural.

“Wait, how do know where it is?” Hyunjin asked again.

Jeongin ruffled the hair on the back of his head, “I uh, had another dream.”

“You remembered?” Seungmin asked, his hand catching Jeongin’s. Jeongin only nodded.

“Well, what did you see?” Hyunjin prompted eagerly.

“Well, here was a lot of overgrown plants, and a really creepy looking clown statue, and there was this giant metal structure, and then—a really bright golden light. I’m positive it was the crown.” Perhaps it wasn’t the best explanation, but Jeongin’s mind was working overtime trying to remember every detail before it faded away.

“Giant metal tracks? Clown statue? It almost sounds like you were at an amusement park, or maybe an abandoned one at that.” Seungmin supplied.

“Hold on, you think the crown is at an amusement park?” Hyunjin cut in.

“An old _abandoned_ amusement park.” Seungmin clarified.

Hyunjin let out a short laugh “Holy shit, you’ll never guess what Chan asked us. He was all like, ‘If you were a crown, where would you hide?’” Hyunjin mimicked, though it sounded more like an old monk that it really did Chan. “And I was all, cemetery, obviously,” Hyunjin rolled his eyes matter-of-factly as Seungmin nodded along unfazed. Jeongin looked between the two judgingly.

“But Minho said _amusement park_.” Hyunjin continued.

“He—what?” Seungmin said, eyes widening, "Minho was right for once?” he asked, baffled. Jeongin thought it was funny Minho being right was more surprising to Seungmin than Hyunjin enjoying spending time at graveyards.

“I guess!” Hyunjin said, equally incredulous. “We were both right! An amusement park _cemetery!”_

“But—guys,” Jeongin said, effectively capturing their attention, “That isn’t all. I—saw Lucifer. He was there. I have a feeling we have to act fast if we want to get that crown before he does.” Jeongin was growing increasingly worried.

“Fuck, Innie.” Hyunjin cursed, running a frazzled hand through his hair.

“Are you absolutely sure it was him?” Seungmin asked, bringing his hands up to Jeongin’s shoulders. His eyes worriedly scanning the demon’s.

“I’m sure. We need to move, now.” Jeongin stood up from the bench.

Hyunjin sighed “And I _just_ got back.” Jeongin shot him a worried look, and the angel’s pout fell from his face.

“You’re right. We should tell Chan about this.” Hyunjin said, before sighing. “God, who would have known I’d be going to the King of Hell in times of great distress,”

“Hyunjin, you’re literally dating a demon, and a Nephilim.” Seungmin pointed out. Jeongin snickered, sharing a look with Seungmin.

Hyunjin sighed dramatically, “I _know_. What has my holy life become?”

~

They regrouped back in Hyunseungin’s apartment. Hyunjin was starting to feel like they should have spent the extra fake money to have gotten themselves a bigger place.

8 divine beings were crowded around their single couch and coffee table, looking like truck drivers sitting at kindergarten sized desks.

Seungmin leaned over to whisper in Hyunjin’s hear, “Who’s the—”

“Changbin.” Hyunjin whispered back before he could even finish. Seungmin’s eyes widened, mouth forming a little “o.” Jeongin was currently seated next to said demon, playing with her long hair in fascination. Changbin looked like she was seconds from smacking his hand away, but hers were currently occupied, being held by Felix, and neither seemed too keen to pull away.

Hyunjin smiled smugly to himself, happy the two had fixed things between them. Felix looked over at Hyunjin once, a small smile spreading across his face before he looked back at Changbin with such a fond look Hyunjin felt like he was intruding.

“Ok, so abandoned amusement park then.” Chan mused, seeming rather squished between Jisung and Minho, the king’s wings needing to be folded tightly to his back. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen which one, would you Jeongin?”

Jeongin shook his head as he slowly lowered his hands from Changbin’s hair.

“Right,” Chan said voice tight.

“But,” Minho spoke up, “I did do some research online, and it seems there’s only one abandoned park with a pavilion like Innie described.”

“Ah, right, the internet. Forgot that exists.” Chan said with an aloof laugh. Jeongin shot him a sympathetic smile.

“It’s called Jade Paradise.” Minho continued.

“Well,” Jisung slapped a hand on the demon king’s shoulder, Hyunjin flinched. “Looks like we’re going to paradise, boys. And Changbin.” Jisung added, Changbin only shrugged her dainty shoulders.

“Not all of us, Seungmin isn’t coming.” Chan said, shooting Seungmin a look. “If there’s even the slightest chance Lucifer could be there, then there’s no way you can come. He can’t know you exist.” Chan explained before Seungmin could say anything.

“However, if Seungmin’s not going, that means one of us has to stay behind,” The king trailed off, eyeing Jeongin expectantly, but to their surprise, Jeongin pursed his lips.

“But—I want to come.” Jeongin said. Chan looked a little helpless, the two had some sort of silent battle between them, but Hyunjin could see the determined set to Jeongin’s shoulders. He knew the demon had a reason for wanting to come, and that he wouldn’t back down any time soon.

“I can stay behind.” Hyunjin volunteered easily. He’d been in charge of watching over Seungmin for so long, it was second nature to him. There was no way he’d let anything like The Incident ever happen again.

Jeongin shot him a grateful look, Hyunjin smiled back at him.

Chan let out a great sigh, “Alright,” he said, giving Hyunjin a meaningful look, “So Hyunjin and Seungmin will stay, and the rest of you are with me.”

As the rest were all getting ready to leave, Seungmin pulled Jeongin aside to join him and Hyunjin.

“Here, take this.” Seungmin said, placing something into Jeongin’s hand. Jeongin raised an eyebrow in question, unfurling his hand to show a silver ring. Hyunjin knew that ring, it was technically hisring, the ring he’s given Seungmin forever ago.

Hyunjin sucked in a breath, “You still have that?” He asked Seungmin.

Seungmin gave a small smile, “Of course, it’s how I found you when you were captured by Chang—the shapeshifter.” Seungmin corrected quickly. Hyunjin blinked, he hadn't known that. 

“Why are you giving it to me?” Jeongin asked, a questioning pout on his lips.

“I want you to have it, it would make me feel better.” Seungmin said somewhat anxiously. Hyunjin gave him a sideways glance, feeling like Seungmin was keeping something from them. 

Jeongin gave Seungmin a long look, before glancing at Hyunjin who could only shrug. Jeongin slipped the ring onto his finger, and Seungmin gave the smallest of shudders. Hyunjin wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t standing right next to the Nephilim.

Seungmin stepped forwards, wrapping Jeongin in a tight hug. “Come back safe, okay?” he mumbled, before passing the hug off to Hyunjin like Jeongin was a baton.

“You got it, boss.” Jeongin saluted, “All in one piece.”

“You ready for some fun, Innie?” Jisung asked, coming over to join their circle with a mischievous grin on his lips. “I’m proposing after we find the crown, we use some magic and ride some of the rides ourselves. Whaddaya think?”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes but Jeongin clapped excitedly. Hyunjin prayed their excitement wasn’t premature, he prayed who Jeongin had seen in his dream wasn’t there, because he desperately wanted his little demon to be safe.

Hyunjin’s anxiety was torn in two nowadays, between keeping Seungmin off of Heaven and Hell’s radar and trying to keep Jeongin away from the dark clutches of his father—Hyunjin wished he could clone himself in two to watch over them both.

“Don’t worry, Jinnie. We’ll take good care of him.” Jisung said, noticing Hyunjin’s distress. “He is our precious maknae, after all.” Jisung smiled, ruffling Jeongin’s hair affectionately. Jeongin’s cat ears flattened at the act. Hyunjin smiled a little at the display. If he were to entrust Jeongin’s safety to anyone, Hyunjin knew he was in good hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extras: A rare photo of Jeongin holding the [Golden Fillet](https://twitter.com/minholee__bb/status/1296841787156230144)  
> And also, [Nephilim](https://twitter.com/skzIoops/status/1297197978764095491) Seungmin prolly
> 
> Their upcoming Golden Fillet mission I am excited for though XD so stay tuned for that! ;) <3


	17. UPDATE

Hey guys, so update:

In light of recent events involving Woojin, I wanted to say a few things, and also hear what you guys think. 

I honestly don’t know what proper etiquette is in situations like this, it’s horrible if the allegations towards him are true (and honestly it’s not looking so good for him), and I do not want to support someone like that at all. 

I want this story to be its own thing away from real life events, and a place you can go to “get away” in a sense, but since Woojin is a character in my story, even if I’m only using his outward appearance, I don’t want to trigger anyone, but I also don’t know if you guys even care too much, because I know some people can detach the characters from real life well while others can’t, but I respect that!

So this leads me to our options:

Option 1: Change his name, so his character will still be here, but I’ll change it so it’s no longer in any way affiliated with Woojin

Option 2: leave everything as it is, continue on as normal

Or option 3: the “I don’t care” option

I made a [poll](https://twitter.com/manis_suga/status/1304144033606852608) for hopefully a faster/anonymous way to vote, but if you have any other requests or ideas, please let me know in the comments! I really appreciate you guys, and I hope you all are doing okay. My heart goes out to each one of you <3

(Can I say though when his character plot in this story turned out to be a LITTLE MORE CANON than we really would have liked??? Rip I'm so sorry)


	18. Hellacoaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the old abandoned amusement park, the gang splits up to search of the crown. Minsung find themselves in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL sorry for that cringe worthy title, if anyone else has a good roller coaster name after reading this chapter, please let me know and maybe I'll change it heh heh ;)
> 
> Also! The masses have spoken, and a majority of you voted for option one, so please welcome NCT's Jaehyun to the story! I was going to just make an OC--but then I thought "97 Line" and I also thought Jaehyun and Jungkook would be fun to write hehe  
> Jaehyun irl is the softest peach so--this will be interesting 🙃 
> 
> Also I'm so excited for this mission, enjoy~

“I think we’ve finally found their new hide out.” Yoongi’s gruff voice said as he and Jungkook leaned over a computer screen. Jaehyun was sitting in one of their metal rolly chairs, spinning idly round and round.

“The cultists?” Jaehyun asked, voice carefully disinterested. “How?” he grudgingly added when he got no response.

“I put a tracker on one of the guys when they first grabbed me, the one that ran away.” Jungkook said nonchalantly. Jaehyun stopped spinning to gape at the boy.

“You—when? How?” Jaehyun was _not_ impressed, he _wasn’t._

Jungkook gave him a smug smile, Jaehyun curled his lips in distaste. “I’m not a cop for nothing, you know.” Jungkook said.

Jaehyun stayed quiet as Yoongi went back to explaining the location. A few images of the place flashed onto the TV screen mounted on the wall, and Jaehyun stopped his spinning when a particular image caught his eye.

“Wait a second.” Jaehyun said, standing up to get a closer look. “This place, I’ve seen it. It was in one of your pictures on the table last time.” Though this time, the shadow figure Jaehyun had seen lurking in the photo’s corner was not there.

“Yeah it’s an old abandoned amusement park. We scouted it out years ago, because it was abandoned, and abandoned places tend to attract negative energy.” Yoongi further explained. “Back then, nothing of concern had been there. Though it seems now that the cultists have made it their home.”

Jaehyun frowned at the screen, turning back to the table to see if he could find the same image, but all the photos were already gone.

“Great, so we’ll go check it out.” Jungkook said easily.

“We will?” Jaehyun asked, “I don’t like the looks of it.”

Jungkook scoffed, “Is the heavenly angel afraid?”

Jaehyun shot him a glare, “I’m not afraid.” He was only half lying, “but in the other photo I saw of it, there was a shadow figure, and—let’s just say the vibes I was getting from it weren’t _holy._ ”

Jungkook and Yoongi wore twin frowns as they looked at him, “Jaehyun, we literally work against demons and monsters every day. Shadow figures are hardly a concern for us.”

 _But you didn’t get the feeling that I got from the image._ Jaehyun didn’t voice that out loud. They wouldn’t understand. They’d laugh at him, saying it was just in his head.

“Besides, we’re going to have actual occultists to worry about, a strange shadow figure will have to wait.” Jungkook smiled smugly.

“Fine.” Jaehyun clipped, “But if things get a little hairy out there, I’m not saving your ass.”

Jungkook walked towards him, faking a pout, “Hyunnie, you’re my guardian angel, you don’t really have the choice, now do you?”

~

Minho frowned, his hand wrapped tightly in Jisung’s as the two walked down an overgrown pathway. They had decided to split up as soon as they’d appeared in Jade Paradise to find the crown faster. According to Jeongin’s vision, dream, whatever it was—they were looking for a vibrant, red, pavilion styled building.

“When you see the scary clown, you’ll know you’re close!” Jeongin had shared enthusiastically, right before they’d split up. Jisung had pursed his lips in distaste.

“Why the face, Minnie?” Jisung now asked, squeezing his hand lightly as it swung between them.

“I just—I wanted to go on a real date with you, and hunting for a dangerous crown named off of the McDonald’s menu isn’t exactly the activity I had in mind.” Minho grumbled.

Jisung tried to mask his laughter by pushing his lips into a pout. “Aw, Min, it’s okay. You said you loved amusement parks! This could still be fun.”

Minho scoffed, “Yeah, if this even counts as an amusement park. I’m not feeling very amused.” They were nearing an old roller coaster track, and Jisung exclaimed out in excitement, pulling Minho after him as he ran to get closer.

“This is not a red pavilion.” Minho said unhelpfully.

Jisung shot him a look, “I know, but it _is_ a roller coaster, and look! The cart is still here!”

It was there alright—barely. There were vines ensnaring the cart in its leafy tendrils, and the seat cushions were all ripped, the inner stuffing spilling out like guts.

“Come on, do you think they’d notice if we just—went for a little ride?” Jisung asked, mischievous eyes turned to Minho.

Minho frowned, “I feel like if we set even a foot in that thing, it’s going to collapse out from under us.”

“That’s what magic is for.” Jisung wiggled his eyebrows, thrusting out a hand with a flourish as light blue sparks sprang from his fingers. Minho watched in rapt fascination as the cart started to fix itself, the stuffing stuffed itself back into the seat cushions, the vines darkened, dissolving around the cart to ash and blowing away with the breeze. Even the wheels looked cleaner, like they’d been given a recent shine.

“Ta da!” Jisung said, looking pleased at his work. Minho was still weary.

“Don’t you think it’s kinda—dangerous? What if the track is broken? How will we even get it to move?” Minho started pointing out all the things that could possibly go wrong. Jisung thrust a hand over Minho’s mouth, effectively muffling the cambion. Minho muffled indignantly.

“You worry too much, Min. It’s fine. If anything’s wrong, we can just fix it with magic.” Jisung waved dismissably, gesturing for Minho to get into the cart. Minho looked back and forth reluctantly between Jisung and the cart like he was watching a high stakes tennis tournament, and when it seemed they might stay there forever while Minho tried to decide, Jisung shoved him into the cart.

“Hey!” Minho yelled, though there was no bite, he got himself situated in the seat anyways, thankful to see the seatbelt system still seemed to work. When he tugged on the bar across his lap, it didn’t go back up.

“Woo! I’m so excited, I’ve never been on a roller coaster before.” Jisung said.

Minho turned to him with alarm, “You’ve never ridden a roller coaster? Then how do you know how to work it!?” But his words gave way to a yelp when the cart jolted forwards by some unseen force. Minho could only guess it was Jisung’s doing.

Jisung gave a whoop of excitement, and Minho reached over to grip Jisung’s hand worriedly as the cart started to ascend up the track. It kept going for a while too, to the point Minho was convinced they were going straight into the sky.

“Jisung, I don’t know about this—” Minho gulped, death grip on both Jisung and the bar.

“Relax Min, I’ll save us if something happens.”

“You say that now but—” Minho’s voice cut off sharply when the cart reached the precipice, and Minho screamed, not able to see the track continuing down in front them, but there wasn’t enough time to think.

His heart plummeted the same time the cart did, and Minho squeezed his eyes shut in fear, screaming as the wind whipped past his face. The only thing telling him everything was ok was Jisung delighted laughter beside him.

After a while, Minho popped an eye open to survey the ride, bad timing, for they were just nearing a loop de loop, and he saw his life flash before his eyes as the world turned upside down, and he could have sworn the bar holding him down lifted up the slightest bit.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” Minho repeated like a prayer.

“Minho! You’re literally crushing my hand, it’s fine!” Jisung said, prying Minho’s fingers off him like a rusty claw. Minho’s hands were shaking. Thankfully, they seemed to be nearing the end of the ride.

“Okay, that was fun Sung, let’s stop now.” Minho said unsteadily. He just wanted to get off the roller coaster from Hell.

“Okay.” Jisung agreed, except—they went zooming past the entrance.

“Jisung!” Minho yelled, though the minute his eyes met the demon’s own alarmed ones, he knew they were in trouble.

“I—why didn’t it stop?” Jisung muttered. Minho’s head slammed back against the headrest as the ride climbed back up the towards the sky.

“Oh my god, we’re doomed!” Minho yelled in dismay. “What do you mean you can’t stop it? Try again!”

Minho guessed Jisung was trying, but to no avail as the ride kept chugging upwards.

“Jisung!” Minho yelled again, as they neared the top of the peak.

“I can’t! It won’t let me!” Jisung yelled back with mounting panic. “Here, take my hand! I’ll just teleport us out.”

Minho grabbed Jisung’s hand instantly, wanting nothing more than to get the fuck out of there before they plummet down again.

It seemed the universe was not on their side.

Both demon’s screamed bloody murder as the cart shot downwards, going on its second run of the entire track, and there they were, still trapped.

“I can’t teleport!” Jisung wailed, Minho felt a few tears trickling down his face, though from the wind or panic, he wasn’t sure.

“What??” Minho screamed back.

“It’s like—something’s stopping me!” Jisung said, shutting his eyes, probably still trying to get them off the ride.

After the loop de loop, Minho gasped, spotting someone standing on the loading deck.

“Jisung!” Minho pointed an accusing finger towards the figure. Jisung whipped his head towards the platform, eyes narrowing at the sight.

“Fuck,” The demon cursed, “It’s got to be them, they’re keeping us on here.”

“Hey jackass! Let us off!” Minho screamed at the figure, pushing furtively on the bar across his lap. He was so done with this entire experience, he had zero fucks left to give. The figure raised its head towards the two, though they were shrouded in a black cloak, so Minho couldn’t see their face.

“Wait a minute, those are the same robes we wore from the cult. Do you think it’s a cult member?” Minho asked.

“But how would a human be able to control this?” Jisung asked incredulously.

“I don’t care who it is, but they better LET US THE FUCK OFF!” Minho screamed again, raising a fist threateningly at the figure as they zoomed past the entrance. “FIGHT US LIKE A REAL MAN!”

“Can you get out?” Jisung asked, as they ascended for the third time.

“What do you mean? I obviously can’t or we wouldn’t be in this mess!” Minho spat, though he saw Jisung was weaseling his way out from under the bar and gasped.

“Jisung no! You could fall!” Minho shrieked, reaching out for the demon who had somehow succeeded in getting out from under the bar. Though Jisung had a death grip on the bar, since they were tilted at practically a 90-degree angle, there wasn’t much else keeping him in.

“Minho, you’ve got to try, this is the slowest it gets on the whole ride, it’s our best chance at getting off.”

Minho was starting to hyperventilate. Getting out of the cart meant he’d be suspended nearly 50 feet off the ground with no safety net. His worst fear coming to fruition: heights.

“No no no no, I can’t.” Minho shook his head fervently, knuckles white as he gripped the bar.

“Minho, you have to try, or you’ll be stuck on this ride alone.” Jisung didn’t sound chastising, he sounded scared. They were nearing the halfway point of the ascension. It was now or never.

“Ok,” Minho muttered quietly, shuffling the slightest, still scared to death of falling.

“Try faster, please.” Jisung’s voice was strained, the demon still holding on through sheer will power alone. Minho struggled harder. He’d managed to slide so half of his body was out from under the bar.

“Oh god, oh god,” Minho breathed, every part of him shaking in fear.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Jisung said woefully. It _was_ kind of his fault they were in this predicament to begin with anyways.

“Jisung!” Minho shrieked when his footing slipped, and one of Jisung’s hands shot out to catch his arm.

“Minho, please!” Jisung said, his arms were straining from holding himself and partially Minho up. Minho slipped further until his stomach was out from under the bar.

“I’m gonna die, we’re gonna die.” Minho wailed.

“No, we’re not! Now get on the track stairs!” Jisung yelled, letting go of Minho’s arm tentatively so he himself could stand. Minho gawked at him in horrid fascination. How was Jisung doing that? The demon had easily stood on the back of the seat before stepping out onto the stairs that lined the track.

“Minho! Now!” Jisung screamed. The precipice was nearing, Minho had probably 10 seconds before he’d plummet along with the cart. It truly was now or never.

Minho squeaked, gripping the bar until he placed two feet firmly (or as firmly as it could be considering his position) on the back of his seat before slowly straightening.

“Minho!” Jisung yelled again, voice sounding fainter, farther away. Minho looked up right when the cart had reached the tip—and screamed as he plunged over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is legit my worst fear of a roller coaster malfunction (but also I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie so roller coasters are my jam)
> 
> And HBD to Jisung and Felix!! 😊 Did you guys like "Back door" as much as I did? ;)


	19. Surprise?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Changlix have not one, but two surprising encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF sorry for leaving you all on a cliff hanger for so long 😅

Changbin and Felix had naturally paired up, and they made their way through some overgrown shrubbery, making their way towards a cluster of decaying buildings.

Felix had been a little disappointed when it turned out the “much better things” Changbin had wanted to do with Felix had been to just cuddle. It wasn’t that Felix hated cuddling, quite the contrary when it came to cuddling with Changbin. Really, the angel would happily do anything as long as it was with Changbin, but he couldn’t lie that he’d been anticipating more—rated R type activities to go down.

Changbin still hadn’t initiated anything other than kissing since they’d gotten him back from the shapeshifter, and Felix had been nothing but supportive about it all. He just wanted Changbin to be comfortable, he’d never ever push the demon to do anything he didn’t want.

But still, Felix had to help himself out more than once after a few particularly heated make out sessions.

Changbin had changed from her previous outfit to a much more functionable one. Though she still wore her combat boots, she had on a simple pair of flexible black pants, a long sleeve shirt, and her hair tied up in a ponytail.

Felix, momentarily fixated on the way her hair swung back and forth with every step, reached out to bat at it. Changbin turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised in amusement.

“You’re starting to act like Jeongin.” Changbin teased, whipping Felix out of his trance.

“Erm, sorry.” He said lamely, but Changbin laughed, bumping into his side lightly. Felix was about to say more when he heard shuffling noises, and what sounded like voices ahead of them.

Changbin pulled him over to hide behind yet another overgrown bush, they peered over the top to see two figures up ahead. The figures were carrying something in their hands. Camera’s, Felix noted. _Huh, that’s odd—_

Changbin sucked in a breath at his side and cursed, “What are they doing here?”

“Who?” Felix questioned, “You know them?” Changbin didn’t answer his question, shooting him an anxious look before taking off towards the figures.

“Changbin!” Felix hissed after her, but she was already gone. Now it was Felix’s turn to curse as he hurriedly followed after the demon, though he was not at all prepared for who he was about to meet.

“Changbin? What—what are you doing here?” An all too familiar voice spoke out. Felix’s eyes widened as he caught sight of none other than Jimin, the blasted prince from the past, and the anger that he’d thought he’d gotten rid of bubbled up once more inside him.

“I could ask you the same question.” Changbin snapped worriedly, eyes darting around them, “You guys can’t be here, it isn’t safe.”

The other boy with Jimin scoffed, “What are you, a cop?”

Jimin shot his friend a look, Felix easily reading the human’s mind. _Out of all the times, not now, Tae! Don’t be rude to her, god I hope she doesn’t hate me after this, but wait—who’s this guy?_

Jimin eyed Felix carefully, Felix glared back, hoping to instill a little fear in the mortal. Jimin gulped, dragging his eyes back to Changbin. Felix’s frown deepened, _Well that backfired._

“You two have to leave, _now_.” Changbin insisted, and Felix knew that Jimin was starting to grow alarmed by her words. The boy knew she was being serious.

His friend scoffed again, “We can’t leave, we just got here. And we’ve got some pretty strange activity already! Our viewers are going to eat this shit up.”

“Tae, just shut up!” Jimin bemoaned, and for once, Felix had to agree with him.

“Strange activity? What kind?” Felix asked, wondering if it had any connection to the crown.

“We heard some weird, disembodied chanting sounds coming from that direction.” Tae pointed in front of them, “And there are some strange shadow masses that have been appearing and disappearing.”

Jimin shuddered at his friend’s words, and Felix read Jimin’s mind.

_There’s definitely something demonic going on here. I’ve got to stop letting Taehyung drag me off to ghost hunt with him, I swear to god. Though at least it let me see Changbin again, but what is she doing here? She looks so cute—_

Felix cleared his throat loudly, capturing the three’s attention, only to have nothing to say.

“Maybe come back another time then?” Changbin remedied, “But not today, you have to go.”

“No, we’re not leaving.” Taehyung said.

“Come on, Tae, let’s just go.” Jimin said, tugging on his friend’s coat sleeve.

“No, Jimin. I’m not going to be convinced to leave again like last time just because you chickened out. We finally got some good evidence to show, and our fans are going to want more of it.”

The three went back and forth arguing before Felix had had enough. He reached forward, placing a fingertip to each boy’s forehead. They looked at him confusedly before blue heavenly light shot out, and both boys slumped to the floor, unconscious.

“Felix!” Changbin yelped, instantly kneeling down by Jimin worriedly. Felix tried not to feel jealous.

He shrugged, “What? This solves all our problems, this way they’re out of the way, and they can keep their wish of staying here. Besides, when they eventually wake up, we’ll have gotten the crown, and they’ll be fine.”

Changbin pursed her lips at him dubiously, but eventually straightened back up with a sigh.

“Fine, but we can’t just leave them here.”

Changbin and Felix dragged the boy’s further off the path, so they were hidden by some shrubbery and away from any potential danger, before making their way towards the spot Taehyung had pointed to.

“Was that—?” Felix couldn’t help but ask, even if he _knew_ it was the same boy from Changbin’s past.

Changbin cut him off, “Uh huh.” She nodded.

“Huh.” Felix said, more of a huff than anything.

Sure enough, the chanting noises got louder, as they neared a striped building, the collapsing structure and peeling striped paint reminiscent of a circus tent.

“What the Hell—” Changbin breathed as they crept closer to the entrance. Peeking in they didn’t see much, though there was a big hole in the ground, like the floor had collapsed renovating itself into a basement level.

Changbin looked at Felix, who shrugged, and the two crept closer towards the edge of the sunken hole, the chanting growing louder with each step.

Felix didn’t recognize the words, but he did recognize the sounds. It was demonic in nature. He looked at Changbin for explanation.

“Cult.” Changbin mouthed back at him. The two made it to the edge, seeing six cloaked figures in a kneeling formation on the ground, candles lit up around them as they faced a shrine of sorts. Demonic symbols had been painted onto the shrine along with the floor beneath them.

“What the—” Felix uttered, but movement caught his eye across the way. His eyes snapped up to the opposite side of where he and Changbin were lying, only to see Jaehyun and a boy staring down at the cult.

Felix elbowed Changbin in the side, nodding towards the two when he got her attention. Changbin’s mouthed dropped at the sight.

“What do we do?” Changbin whispered.

“I don’t know,” Felix whispered back. He didn’t really want to see Jaehyun, he wondered if they could sneak out of there without the other two seeing, but all too suddenly, the boy by Jaehyun’s side stood up and shot a gun at the ceiling causing everyone to startle.

“Freeze!” His voice echoed around the building, he aimed the gun expertly at the cult members, who had stopped in their chanting to stare at the armed man.

“For fucks sake, Jungkook.” Felix heard the exasperation in Jaehyun’s voice as the angel stood up beside him. _Oh, it’s Jeon Jungkook._ Felix realized with a start. Jaehyun’s charge.

“I want all of you to lower your hoods, slowly.” Jungkook said, gun steady in his hand. “Now!” He added when none of the cultists moved.

Felix and Changbin watched with bated breath as one of the cultists reached up to pull their hood down, dyed platinum hair almost blinding.

“Ah, if it isn’t the cop and his angel. Hah, sounds like the beginning of a joke. Hey, Jongdae, a cop and an angel walk into a bar, and what does the bartender say?” The boy asked, sounding overly amused considering the situation.

“Uhm—I don’t know, Baek, what do they say?”

The cultist, _Baek,_ sighed exasperatedly, annoyed at his friend’s lack of improv skills, “The bartender says, ‘I’m sorry, but this is a closed cult meeting, and you weren’t invited.’” With that, blinding light shot out of seemingly nowhere, and Jaehyun and his charge careened backwards. The cultists below them scattered like cockroaches while Felix and Changbin only watched, stunned.

“Should we—?” Changbin started, but then they caught sight of Jaehyun socking a cultist in the face, and Jungkook with a weird glowing black mass around him, and Changbin shut her mouth.

“On second thought, I think they’ve got this under control.” Changbin said, already making her way to the exit.

“Agreed.” Felix piped as the two hurriedly walked away from the tent. “They’re not what we’re looking for anyways.”

Changbin opened her mouth as if to say something when they both heard a scream coming from the completely opposite direction of the tent. They shared a glance.

“Didn’t that kind of sound like—?”

“Minho.”

The two took off running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll have to wait just a little longer though! 🙃


	20. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chanin make a discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are really going to kill me 😅

Chan and Jeongin walked rather calmly along the weeded cement path. With every step on the plants that Chan took, they wilted and disintegrated beneath his feet.

Chan frowned down at his steps. He wasn’t the most powerful demon in Hell, sure, but being the king still came with a certain amount of allocated power. It seemed naturally killing plants was one of them.

Jeongin was walking rather quietly beside him. Chan couldn’t remember a time the youngest demon had been so introspective, usually the demon was bouncing off the walls in excitement or mischief.

“Jeonginnie,” Chan started, “Do you have anything you want to tell me?” He hadn’t meant for it to come out so passive aggressive.

Jeongin jerked his head up to look at Chan. “What? Me? No, not really.” The demon shrugged, shoving his hands into his pant pockets.

Chan frowned, “You know I raised you, right? I know when you’re lying, Innie. You make that face.”

“What? What face? There’s no face.” Jeongin protested, shifting his eyes away.

Chan chuckled despite himself, “In, I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

In reality, Chan felt guilty. He still hadn’t told Jeongin who his father really was, and the weight of the unspoken truth was becoming too much for even the King of Hell to handle.

Jeongin side eyed Chan as they walked past yet another decaying structure. Chan felt like if he listened closely enough, he could hear the remnant laughs and shouts of excitement from park-goers past, see the little kids happily licking up dripping popsicles and carrying comically large stuffed animals in their tiny arms.

“Well—now that you mention it,” Jeongin started, sounding unsure. Chan didn’t say a word, afraid speaking would ruin his candid response. “I have been getting—nightmares, lately.” Jeongin finished, eyes fixed on the ground.

Chan’s frown deepened, “Nightmares? What kind, Innie?” It was natural for someone who had gone through such traumatic experiences as losing someone dear to them to have nightmares, but even still, Chan didn’t like that the younger was suffering.

“That’s the thing, I can’t remember.”

“If you can’t remember, how do you know they’re nightmares?” Chan asked carefully. Jeongin shot him a weary look.

“Because I wake up screaming, or almost lighting the bed on fire.”

Chan sucked in a breath, his caretaker instincts taking over. “In, how long has this been happening?”

Jeongin winced, “Since Seungmin and you disappeared?”

Chan quickly shut his gaping mouth, guilty doubling. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” It wasn’t an accusation; it was defeat.

“’M sorry, Channie hyung, I didn’t want to worry you, and I kept thinking they would stop—”

Jeongin abruptly stopped walking. Chan turned to him when Jeongin announced, “Hyung! That’s it! That’s the building!” He pointed at a vibrantly red pagoda.

Chan didn’t get the chance to pester Jeongin about his nightmares further, because the demon took off running towards the pagoda. Chan hurried to catch up, his wings aiding in the trek, moving him several feet in mere seconds.

The inside of the structure was rather dark, only light filtering in from outside to illuminate the room. The crown was right there, smack dab in the middle, and Chan couldn’t help but think it was a rather poor hiding spot. It had taken such measures to hide itself in an old abandoned amusement park, only to hide itself in the most vibrant building, on clear display to anyone who passed.

“Wait!” Chan called out when Jeongin pushed up on his tip toes to grab the crown from its raised pedestal, tiny bat wings flapping furtively. “You can’t just grab it, Innie. It’s dangerous.” Chan flitted closer, wings flapping as he floated around the crown for a better look. Jeongin looked dejectedly up at them.

“What are we gonna do with it, then?” Jeongin asked. Chan hummed, it was a good question. He’d wracked his brain ever since they’d found out what Lucifer was looking for about what to do with the crown once they’d gotten it.

He couldn’t very well destroy it, it was an ancient relic after all, of far greater power than was feasibly necessary.

The only solution he could think of to truly keep the crown from falling into the wrong hands was to toss it into the black abyss of space and time itself. Of course, he’d need to pull in a few favors for that to happen, and he hadn’t managed to arrange the details before hand, so for now—hiding the crown in his own possession would have to do.

Chan reached for the crown. He could hear Jeongin gasp below him, wide eyes watching as the king’s fingers curled around the golden circlet. The crown shot out a bright golden light, blinding Chan who barely managed to keep hold of the crown and keep himself in the air.

“Jesus—” Jeongin cursed, but stopped. Chan could sense that something was wrong. He ardently tried to blink the blinding white spots out of his eyes.

“Channie, so nice to finally see you again.” A jarring voice ripped through Chan’s ears, freezing all the blood in his veins. His eyesight finally came back, but he almost wished it hadn’t.

Lucifer was standing there, right there, with Jeongin not ten feet away. Jeongin’s chest was rising and falling rapidly as he stared at the demon, one of the Seven Princes of Hell, his own _father_ , and the kid had no idea.

Chan grinded his jaw together in a way that was borderline painful. “Lucifer,” was all he could say. Chan’s hands were shaking as he held onto the crown, but he desperately hoped it wasn’t noticeable. He was the fucking King of Hell, for crying out loud, he wasn’t scared of anyone, but who he was scared _for_ was Jeongin, and for the crown resting in his hands like a ticking time bomb.

Lucifer walked closer to them, his long strides unhurried. Jeongin quickly scrambled backwards until he reached Chan’s side. Chan slipped an arm through Jeongin’s protectively, making sure the younger was plastered to his side, _safe._

Lucifer smiled at them, like he was watching a wedding reception, though with an odd mixture of pride and malevolence. Chan didn’t doubt for one second that Lucifer could snap at any moment.

“Lucifer, what are you doing here?” Chan asked in what he hoped was a breezy way. Technically he and Lucifer weren’t on bad terms, acquaintances, even. He had entrusted Jeongin to his care all those years ago after all.

But things were different now.

Lucifer made a little surprised scoffing noise, “Well, I came to see my so—”

“We had a deal.” Chan rushed to warn. Lucifer had told him decades ago to raise his son, show him the ways of demons, and to never tell Jeongin who his father was.

It had all been to keep Jeongin safe, a deal Chan couldn’t help but accept once he’d laid eyes the boy. Jeongin was innocent, a spark of light amidst a dark life, and Chan had grown attached to him immediately.

Lucifer shrugged, drawing his lips into a thin line, “Yes, well, you did make a deal with the devil, and deals with devils are subject to change. You should know that, Channie.” He tsked patronizingly.

Chan’s lips curled down, “The only deals valid are those that stay the same, and any demon that changes their deals are to be immediately taken care of.” Chan recited, their politically correct way of saying “ _killed_.”

Lucifer gave him a patronizing smile, “Lucky for you, I’m not any demon, now am I?” His gaze traveled back to Jeongin then, and Chan unconsciously stepped in front of the younger in hopes of—protecting him? Keeping the truth from him a little longer? Perhaps both.

“When I asked for you to take care of Jeongin, I see you really took it to heart. Truly warms my ol’ soul, you know, if I had one.” Lucifer chuckled at his own joke. “You must know though, Channie, that I don’t do anything without a reason.”

“What are you getting at?” Chan grit out. He was growing extremely weary of the conversation.

“I asked you to take care of Jeongin, to protect him, yes, but that wasn’t the only reason. You see, I knew you’d grow a soft spot for the boy, it was inevitable, really. With those eyes, and his adorable baby face?” Cooing was not becoming of Lucifer. He looked more like he was constipated than endeared.

“Well, it seems you grew into yourself, Jeongin.” Lucifer said with a dark smile. “I like the horns, makes you seem—older.”

Jeongin’s hand curled, fisting the back of Chan’s shirt.

“I knew you’d do anything for him, wouldn’t you?” Lucifer’s pointed gaze bore through Chan. Chan only glared, not knowing what to say. It was true, after all, he loved Jeongin, he’d do anything to make sure the younger was safe.

“That’s why I think you’re going to hand over the crown to me.” Lucifer said simply, like he was stating a fact. He had a bored look in his eyes, like this was simply one bullet point in his long to do list for the day.

Chan let out a sharp laugh, “And why in _Hell_ would I do that?” Though he regretted it the moment the words left his lips.

Jeongin yelled out in pain, his grip slipping from Chan’s shirt as the demon dropped to the ground, head in his hands. Chan looked worriedly at the younger, before his eyes flashed black, turning to face he devil.

“What did you do?” Chan placed a hand on Jeongin’s head, trying in vain to take the pain away from him.

It didn’t work.

Demon’s didn’t have healing powers, after all. All Chan was capable of causing, was destruction.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing that will leave lasting impacts. That is—if you hand over the crown. Otherwise, Jeonginnie might be like this for a while.” Lucifer frowned, eyes trained on Jeongin as the poor boy whimpered, body shuddering in pain. Chan’s heart tugged painfully in his chest.

“You wouldn’t.” Anger flared in Chan’s chest. To his own son? There was no way even Lucifer could be that cruel.

Lucifer shrugged, “I have a bigger picture in mind, and Innie here will prosper in the end—that is, if you give me the crown.” Lucifer held out a hand, curling his long finger’s in invitation.

Chan wondered where the rest of their group were, wondered if all of them together would even stand a chance against one of the Seven Princes of Hell. Perhaps a Nephilim would stand a chance, but Seungmin didn’t know the extent to his powers, and Lucifer couldn’t know he existed, not if they wanted to maintain the delicate balance between Heaven and Hell.

“Tik tok, King of Hell, I’m a busy man, I don’t have all day.” Lucifer sighed, hand gesturing impatiently.

“Hyung—” Jeongin grit out. He’d grabbed at the bottom of Chan’s pants. Chan crouched down, placing his hands on the younger’s arms. “Don’t—do it,” Jeongin breathed, but his words gave way to another hiss of pain and he pressed his head against the cement floor.

Hellfire was starting to lick across his skin, it wouldn’t be much longer until the boy was consumed by them, and Chan would have no choice but to step away, lest he be burned alive. Even the King of Hell wasn’t fireproof.

Though Chan couldn’t imagine doing such a thing as leaving Jeongin behind. He imagined it would feel much like ripping his own heart out of his chest.

“Don’t worry, Innie, you’ll be alright.” Chan reassured, patting Jeongin reassuringly before making his way forward. He was out played, there wasn’t anything he could do now, so he did what he had to.

“That’s it, good boy.” Lucifer preened when Chan relinquished the crown to Lucifer.

Chan’s jaw was set in defiance. He wasn’t going to show defeat, even if he _had_ been defeated, he wouldn’t give Lucifer the satisfaction.

Lucifer eyed the crown lazily in his hand, “A beautiful weapon, really, but it isn’t meant for me.” Chan’s defiance turned to confusion, but before he could react, Lucifer surged forwards and placed the gleaming crown atop Chan’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did y'all miss good 'ol Luci?
> 
> I'm kinda scared to say this after two separate cliff hangers now but I made a [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself) for the first time in my life, so if you guys have any questions (literally anything, like personal, or fun, or philosophical, etc.) or comments or constructive criticism about the story or my writing in general, I'd really love to hear it!! I'm always trying to improve my writing, so feedback really helps ^^ 
> 
> (Okay but really, next chapter will be extra long to end these cliff hangers I promise ;))


	21. Psych

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember Seungmin and his strange thing with the ring? Answered.  
> Remember Minho, still falling? Answered.  
> Remember Lucifer placing the crown on Chan's head? Because I don't.  
> (Lol jk, also answered)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other words, everything is answered :)

“This is nice, I missed this.” Hyunjin smiled as he rolled onto his side so he could better see Seungmin. They were currently re-watching episodes of a drama they’d loved to watch back when they were at the dorms. The light from the screen illuminated Seungmin’s face in an technicolored array of hues.

The Nephilim looked back at Hyunjin with a fond smile, “Me too.”

Hyunjin reached out to wrap one of Seungmin’s hands in his. It was moments like these when Hyunjin knew he really loved Seungmin. Moments that seemed so mundane, yet never failed to make his heart race. Seungmin had always been like an instant burst of happiness. Hyunjin loved having him as his charge.

Their faces were inching closer, now that Hyunjin realized he’d been staring. Seungmin’s eyes were fixated on the angel’s lips before they darted back up to his eyes. Hyunjin smiled knowingly, closing the short distance between them.

Hyunjin wrapped an arm around Seungmin to bring the boy closer, Seungmin’s hands pressed against the angel’s chest as he deepened their kiss. Hyunjin took his time to lick along the seam of Seungmin’s parted lips, wanting to taste all of him, wanting to pour all his love into the act.

He couldn’t believe they’d never kissed before this whole fiasco started. He wasn’t sure he could survive going forward without Seungmin’s kisses ever again.

Seungmin entwined his legs with Hyunjin’s easily, rolling them so he was on top. Seungmin’s weight pressed down on Hyunjin pleasantly, tongue working into the angel’s mouth with vigor. His black gold wings encompassing them both like a blanket.

Hyunjin’s hands smoothed over Seungmin’s shoulders, pulling his shirt collar to the side so he could kiss down his jaw to his collar bone.

Neither of them were sure how long they went on like that, soft nips and bruising kisses and hands roaming everywhere. It could have lasted for an eternity and Hyunjin wouldn’t mind. He’d only wish that the third part of their puzzle piece could join them.

Hyunjin pulled away from Seungmin with a small frown at the thought.

“I hope Innie’s doing alright, do you think they’ve found the crown by now?” Hyunjin asked, playing with a strand of Seungmin’s hair. Seungmin hummed in thought, head falling into the crook of Hyunjin’s neck.

“I can assure you Jeongin is fine.” Seungmin said, lifting himself up to smile at Hyunjin. “He’s nervous, but fine.” Most of Hyunjin’s worries melted away instantly at the sight of a smiling Seungmin, though his suspicious answer did warrant some questioning.

“How are you so sure?” Hyunjin asked, hands trailing up Seungmin’s arms lightly. Seungmin closed his eyes and hummed.

“Remember that guardian bond you talked about?”

Did he? Hyunjin thought about it far too often. He’d loved the bond that had linked them together. He missed being able to feel what Seungmin was feeling, both the good and the bad. Hyunjin wanted to be there for him in every way.

“Of course I remember,” Hyunjin said, somewhat wistfully. “But what of it?”

“You’re ring. It had a bond on it too, of some sort.” Seungmin started. Hyunjin’s eyebrows furrowed. “It was how I was able to track you when you’d been taken by the shapeshifter, and I thought if it worked in reverse then, maybe with my powers, I could get it to work now.”

Hyunjin’s eyes widened, he pushed himself up on his elbows. “Are you saying you figured out how to activate it between you and the wearer?”

Seungmin nodded, small smile on his lips. “I figured it out, Jinnie.”

Hyunjin could only gape, mind whirling as it wrapped around the fact that Seungmin had somehow figured out his powers enough to use them in such a way. Hyunjin let out an incredulous laugh, surging forwards to kiss Seungmin on the lips.

“You’re truly amazing.” Hyunjin said into the kiss. Seungmin huffed a laugh. “So you can feel Jeongin? You know he’s okay?”

Seungmin hummed in confirmation.

“I was about to go to Lix and see if you could unofficially be Jeongin and I’s guardian angel.” Seungmin smiled cheekily at Hyunjin, who gave a small laugh.

“An angel guarding a demon and a Nephilim, the laws of the universe really would be thrown out the window!”

Seungmin shrugged, “Who said anything about universal laws? I’m pretty sure half our friend group merely existing breaks them anyways.”

Hyunjin’s laugh was cut short by Seungmin wincing above him.

“Seungie? What’s wrong?” Hyunjin asked worriedly, hands coming up to cup Seungmin’s face.

“It’s Jeongin.” Seungmin said, eyes turning golden, Hyunjin’s breath caught at the sight. “He’s _hurting_ , we have to go.” Seungmin hastily sat up, wings unfurling in all their glory behind him. He grabbed hold of Hyunjin’s hand to tug the angel up.

“Jinnie, take us to him.” Seungmin pleaded, and Hyunjin’s heart sunk deep to the ground. He didn’t waste a second, and in a blink of an eye, they were gone.

~

Jisung’s heart caught in his throat when the cart plummeted, taking Minho along with it.

Jisung cried out, racing up the metal track stairs, stumbling several times before he made it to a point he could see over the top. His wild eyes catching a sight he’d never in a million years think to see.

Minho was floating 10 feet above the ground, a mini tornado of his own swirling underneath him. Minho’s face was stuck in shock, eyes disbelieving as he was gently lowered to the ground. He laid in the grass for a while, eyes blinking until he sat up, immediately making eye contact with an equally as baffled Jisung.

Jisung sputtered, mouth opening and closing unintelligently. “Minho?” he finally managed to spit out.

Minho looked at the ground around him, his hair was whipping around his face from the wind. Except—there was no wind. At least, not where Jisung was, even a good 50 feet above the ground.

Another tornado started forming then, right next to Minho, though this time, it didn’t pick him up. It seemed to be directed towards the loading deck, towards the figure that was still standing there, seeming as shocked and frozen as they were.

The tornado grew as it went, picking up speed. The figure turned to run, but it wasn’t fast enough, and the tornado tore through the loading structure, wood and metal tracks alike being ripped from the ground as the tornado spun through the air, the figure sucked in along with it.

Jisung watched with wide eyes as the tornado grew smaller and smaller in the distance, leaving behind no trace of the loading deck, or the black cloaked figure. After a few beats of silence, Jisung finally noticed Changbin and Felix gaping at the empty spot the structure had once been, the cart of the roller coaster falling to the ground with a loud crash as it reached the end of the tracks.

“Minho!” Jisung yelped, racing down the steps on the other side, only to fling himself over the track to race to Minho’s side. He skidded, nearly falling in his haste to make sure the boy was ok.

Jisung took Minho’s face into his hands, examining it for any cuts or bruises before moving on to his arms and legs.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Unholy Hellfire I’m so fucking _sorry_.” Jisung cursed apologetically.

“I’m—fine, Sung.” Minho finally managed to say. His incredulous eyes caught Jisung’s worried expression, and Minho started to _laugh._ Tinkling laughter Jisung loved so much, yet sounded rather psychotic considering their circumstances.

“Minho?” Jisung called again, seeing Felix and Changbin making their way towards the two. Minho clutched at his stomach, head tilted back at the force of his laughter, Jisung was pretty sure he saw tears running down the cambion’s face.

He was laughing so hard he was _crying_.

“Minho what the fuck,” Jisung breathed out, not seeing the humor of the situation. Felix and Changbin finally made it to their side.

“What the Hell was that? Was that an actual tornado?” Changbin screeched, sounding out of breath. Her black hair had fallen out of her ponytail resulting in random chunks obscuring her face.

“We thought we heard you scream.” Felix said, sounding concerned. He raised an eyebrow at Jisung questioningly when Minho’s guffaws gave way to hiccups. Jisung looked at the angel forlornly.

_Your guess is as good as mine._

Minho’s hiccups eventually ceased all laughter, and the boy slumped forward, pressing his forehead into Jisung’s shoulder. Jisung’s arms wove around him easily.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jisung asked, voice quiet as he held Minho. Minho nodded weakly into his shoulder.

“’M afraid of heights.” Minho muttered out. If Jisung wasn’t so close, he wouldn’t have heard him.

“Oh Hell, Minho I’m sor—” Minho wove his arms around Jisung, tugging the demon into an even tighter hug. Jisung huffed at the impact.

“I’m afraid of heights, but it seems my powers were finally triggered by it, figures.” Minho muttered, with a scoff.

“Your powers?” Jisung repeated, everything finally coming together; Minho and his tiny dust tornados he was so proud of, Minho whose sneeze formed actual dust bunnies. Of course, the tornado had been from _him_.

“Yah, if you’re alright and all that, I think we should go look for Chan and Jeongin now, something about this place really isn’t sitting right.” Changbin said, anxiously pushing the stray clumps of hair out of her face.

“You’re right. I hate it here.” Jisung said, helping Minho stand up.

“I’m never going to an amusement park again.” Minho lamented as the four hurriedly made their way out of the roller coaster’s perimeter towards a part of the park none of them had gone yet in hopes of finding Chan and Jeongin.

Minho was the one to point out the creepy, decrepit clown statue, indicating they were close, before the red pavilion came into sight, and the energy tangibly darkened by several degrees.

They all shared a look, Felix procuring an angel blade as the demons followed suit. They crept towards the entrance, readying themselves for anything, though Jisung wasn’t sure any of them were prepared for what they were about to see.

“Chan!” Changbin yelled, but Lucifer had already placed a glowing crown atop the king’s head.

“You can keep the crown, Channie. I think it rather suits you.” Lucifer said, spreading is arms as he walked away backwards. He pulled _another_ golden crown out of nowhere, this one glowing even brighter than the one atop Chan’s head. “I already have the original anyways.”

However, perhaps even more distressing than that, was the sight of Seungmin and Hyunjin who had suddenly materialized by Jeongin’s side. Jeongin, who was curled up in a ball on the floor.

Lucifer turned red eyes towards the trio, and Jisung’s heart plummeted. The devil looked shocked, his once smug smile frozen on his lips. Seungmin turned towards the devil, his eyes filled with liquid gold, gold far brighter than any crown.

“You.” Seungmin said, voice much more dangerous than any of them have ever heard it. Minho shivered by Jisung’s side. “You did this to him. You hurt Innie.” Seungmin didn’t wait around for answers, there was a sort of ripple effect through the air, and Lucifer was blasted backwards, slamming into the wall. Chan, nicked by the crossfire, was sent sprawling off to the side, sliding down against a podium in the middle of the room.

Seungmin walked towards the devil rather calmly, though his energy was anything but. His energy was almost tangible, like dark and light forces at war with each other as they emanated from him. It caused the air to fall heavy with static. Jisung felt the hairs stand up on his body.

Lucifer’s eyes were wild as they took in a black and gold Seungmin, like an avenging angel of death as he closed in on the devil. The gleaming crown was still clutched tightly in Lucifer’s hand.

“Seungmin, don’t!” Chan said dismayed, but it was too late. Lucifer had already gotten a look at the Nephilim in action. The devil’s red eyes seemed shocked for once in his life, and he quickly disappeared before Seungmin could get any closer, the Golden Fillet disappearing along with him.

They all stood, stunned. Felix opened and closed his mouth like a koi fish, Changbin rushed over to Chan, Minho’s gaze was fixed on Seungmin, Hyunjin was knelt by Jeongin’s side, and Jisung took in the whole scene with an increasing sense of dread.

Chan plucked the fake crown off the floor, only to throw it farther. “It was a test.” Chan said. Four pairs of confused eyes looked back at him. “Lucifer had the crown this whole time. This was just—a _fucking test_.” Chan spat.

“Innie, Jeonginnie, can you hear me?” Hyunjin’s worried voice filtered through the air. Jeongin seemed less tightly curled now, limbs resting boneless against the ground.

“Innie?” Jisung called, making his way closer, “Chan, what the _Hell_ happened?” He cried. Chan looked crushed, he’d moved over to Jeongin’s side, hands gently maneuvering the younger’s prone body, so his head rested in the Chan’s lap.

“He wanted to see how far I’d go for Jeongin and I— _fuck,_ I should have _known_ it wasn’t the real crown.” Chan answered, voice strained. Jisung worriedly bit on his nails.

“There was no way you could have known, hyung.” Changbin said, coming up to place a comforting hand on the king’s shoulders. “And besides, we all know you would do anything for Jeongin, that isn’t much of a surprise.” Her attempt to lighten the mood didn’t work this time. The somber atmosphere sucking any bit of humor right out of the air.

“What happened to him?” Minho asked, looking at Jeongin worriedly. Minho had a golden eyed Seungmin in hand. Seungmin seemed to be staring off at nothing, but at least his chaotic energy from earlier was gone, leaving a dull sense of static in its place.

Hyunjin had placed a hand over Jeongin’s forehead. His eyes and hands glowed blue for a few seconds before dimming.

“He’ll be alright.” Hyunjin said, voice grim despite the good news.

“This is bad, this is worse than bad, Lucifer _saw_ Seungmin. He knows a Nephilim exists!” Felix said, flinging his hands towards Seungmin. Seungmin blinked, golden eyes slowly fading back to their normal warm brown. The boy still had his hand firmly grasped in Minho’s.

“There’s no telling what he’ll do with that information. Seungmin’s in danger. We’re all in danger.” Felix added, hands dragging down his face helplessly.

The turn of events was hardly what any of them had ever thought they’d come to. Their mission had been a complete fail; Jeongin had been hurt, Seungmin had been discovered, and they’d also lost the very thing they’d vowed to never let fall into Lucifer’s hands, the Golden Fillet.

They’d been played from the start. Lucifer had had the crown in his possession the whole time. Now, it was only a matter of what he would do with it. Unless—they somehow managed to steal it back first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lucifer really said, "Bitch, you thought--"
> 
> I hope this ties an end to all cliffhangers--for now ;)
> 
> Also, thank you all for 200 kudos 🤧 <3


	22. Round 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chan makes a new plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! So sorry for the sudden month hiatus, I got a bit of writers block for this story, but I think I'm okay now(?) In any case, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I just wrote wherever my mind took me~ lol

“Innie!” Seungmin exclaimed when the unconscious boy finally stirred from the couch in Chan’s throne room. Changbin and the others quickly got up from their spots at the news.

Changbin sighed as she rested across the back of Jeongin’s couch. They’d seen him like this far too often as of late.

Hyunjin, who was knelt beside Jeongin, placed a hand on his forehead. His hand glowed blue, as if to make sure Jeongin really was fine. Jeongin’s ears twitched atop his head, and his cat-slit eyes cracked opened.

Seungmin sighed in relief, throwing himself onto Jeongin before the demon could properly sit up.

“Prince of Hellfire?” Seungmin started, “More like the prince of passing out,” He mumbled into Jeongin’s shoulder. Jeongin patted Seungmin’s back weakly.

“You fool, I told you to stay safe!” Seungmin reprimanded. Clearly the Nephilim wasn’t about to let Jeongin off the hook, regardless of how relieved they all were to see that Jeongin was fine.

Jeongin huffed out a breath. “I stayed in one piece, didn’t I?” Jeongin replied, rather cheekily for someone who’d been passed out not a minute ago.

“Prince of Hellfire, who—who called you that?” Chan asked, his voice catching the boy’s attention. Jeongin’s ears flicked atop his head.

“The shadows from District 9.” He replied, fist clenched at Seungmin’s shirt.

Chan’s face was unreadable. He stood still as he stared at Jeongin, mouth slightly agape. “Jeongin, do you—know?”

“That Lucifer is my father? Yeah, I figured that out.” Jeongin said, voice clipped. Jeongin’s eyes grew big the next second, cat-slit pupils narrowing in panic. “Hyung, the crown, tell me you didn’t give it to him!” He seemed seconds away from hyperventilating, and it took both Seungmin and Hyunjin to calm him down.

Jeongin shook his head, “ _Hyung,_ I would have been fine, you would have found a way to fix me, but the crown—”

“It doesn’t matter anyways, Innie. It was a fake.” Chan said remorsefully.

“It—what?” Jeongin asked, eyes darting between them.

“It was a fake, the real crown had been in Lucifer’s possession the entire time.” Felix elaborated, leveling the younger demon with a look.

“Jeongin, the dream where you saw the crown, do you remember anything else that happened?” Chan asked.

Jeongin scrunched his eyebrows together. “I saw Lucifer, he said something to me, I can’t remember what, and then—he took the crown—” Jeongin looked up at Chan, “I thought it was just a vision of what could happen, I didn’t think about that fact that it already had—”

“It’s okay, Jeongin. You couldn’t have known.” Chan said, but the king looked worse for wear. His ink black skin was paler than usual. He slumped down into the adjacent couch. Changbin was pretty sure he’d never actually seen Chan _sit_ on the couches before.

“What are we going to do?” Jisung asked worriedly. He was wringing his hands again, which was never a good sign for the demon. Changbin reached out to squeeze them.

“You all need to speak up. Tell me everything you haven’t told me yet.” Chan said sounding tired, but his voice left no room for argument, so they did.

Jisung and Minho relayed the whole story with the roller coaster and the cloaked figure they thought responsible, and Changbin and Felix told him about the cult they had stumbled upon, including seeing Jaehyun and his charge. Minho had perked up at that.

“Jungkook hyung was there?” He asked incredulously.

Felix furrowed his eyebrows, “Jungkook—hyung? Do you know him?”

“They’re cousins,” Jisung said waving a hand in the air, “Long story.”

Chan steepled his fingers under his chin, taking in all the information.

“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. There’s clearly something going on with that cult, and it seems whatever that is, Jaehyun and his charge are at the forefront of it all, so we’ll have to consult with them.” The king said.

They all let out various statements of “no thank you’s.”

The king let out an exasperated sigh, “Really? No one wants to talk to Jaehyun about this?”

“I’ll talk to Jungkook hyung for you.” Minho said, raising his hand. Chan waved an arm in his direction as a “ _see? That’s more like it.”_ Jisung pouted, already grumbling his distaste, but Minho simply leaned down to smack a kiss to his cheek and the demon shut up real quickly.

Despite everything, Changbin smirked, he gave Minho an appreciative wink. “What should we do?” Changbin then asked, wanting to be helpful.

“You guys—try to track down Lucifer. We need to get that crown back before he ever has a chance to use it.”

Felix clenched his jaw, “That will take time, Lucifer is powerful, if he doesn’t want to be found, he won’t be.”

Chan leveled the angel with a look, “Then we double our efforts, and find him, fast. Or I guarantee we won’t like what comes next.” The room grew silent at the king’s words. Chan sighed after some time, standing back up dramatically.

“Meanwhile, we need to get you two somewhere safe. Somewhere Lucifer won’t find you.” Chan said, leveling Seungmin and Jeongin with a look.

“Where do you have in mind?” Hyunjin asked, slinking protective arms through Seungmin and Jeongin’s. Changbin thought Jisung was probably right, _all three of them are dating, aren’t they?_

“I can take them up to Heaven, Lucifer can’t go there.” Hyunjin proposed, but Chan shook his head.

“The angels will notice a Nephilim walking amongst them. The place I have in mind is much better.” Chan said, a small smile starting to play at his lips.

The trio looked dubious, “What could possibly be better than Heaven?” Hyunjin asked.

Chan’s smirk grew, which was rather unnerving considering just a small while ago he was helplessly sinking into the couch. “You’ll see.”

~

“You took us to—a hotel?” Hyunjin asked as the four of them stood outside a towering, black mirrored building. Hyunjin didn’t recognize the hotel, but Seungmin must have.

“What the hell are we doing at JYP resort? This place is where famous people and diplomats stay when they’re in town!” The Nephilim exclaimed. Chan only smirked before making his way across the street, the other three having no other choice but to follow.

The moment Hyunjin walked into the lobby, his senses screamed at him, _Danger! Danger!_

 _Demons,_ and there were a lot of them. If Hyunjin had been blindfolded and taken there, he would have thought they were in Hell.

“Chan—” Hyunjin reached out to grab at the King of Hell out of pure concern for Seungmin’s safety when two attendants quickly appeared in front of them, bowing so low they could have been mistaken for stretching.

“Your highness,” the attendants—demons—said in unison.

“Get the elevator to the penthouse ready. Make sure no one else is around.” Was all Chan said in reply before continuing to lead them through the lobby. All the attendants they passed stopped to bow as Chan walked by them. All of them _demons._

“What in heaven is going on here?” Hyunjin hissed to Jeongin who shrugged in response, he was too busy glaring at any demons that eyed Seungmin for a little too long. Between the three of them, most of his Nephilim aura was being masked, but Hyunjin didn’t doubt that there was still something _off_ about Seungmin that the demons must have sensed.

They walked through the busy lobby before veering off towards a nondescript hallway in the corner guarded by yet more demon attendants. One of them pushed a button before the glimmering golden elevator doors opened.

“Come on,” Chan said, stepping into the elevator like he owned the place.

There was only one button in the elevator, which the demon attendant pressed before bowing deeply at them as the doors slid shut and the four were plunged into silence. Well—silence except the plucky pop ballad softly playing over the speakers.

Hyunjin eyed the rest of the group, but asides from Seungmin’s starstruck expression, everyone else seemed relatively unphased.

The elevator reached the penthouse in no time, and Hyunjin was completely floored by the sight he was met with. Floor to ceiling windows covered the entirety of the outside wall giving a prefect view of the Seoul city skyline. There was a curving staircase leading up to a second floor, and a giant grand piano nestles in the curve of the staircase. Not to mention the sunken living room area, and a kitchen big enough to fit two of their old dingy apartments

“Okay, what the hell is this?” Hyunjin finally voiced aloud. “Do you—own this place?” He sputtered at the king who had reached out to touch a flower that instantly disintegrated under his touch. Chan frowned.

“This place is _sweet_ ,” Jeongin remarked, jumping over one of the couches and bouncing onto the cushions. Seungmin had his face pressed up against one of the windows staring at the view. No doubt it would leave a mark on the spotless windows.

“Yes, I own it.” Chan said, turning towards Hyunjin. “And I am positive no one will find you guys here, let alone Lucifer. And even if he did somehow figure it out, he’d never get past the defenses.”

Hyunjin hummed suspiciously.

“What? A king’s got to make money somehow.” Chan gestured to the penthouse with his arms, “What better way than creating an upscale resort hotel and collecting money from the richest humans themselves?”

Hyunjin had to admit, Chan had gotten him there. The king no doubt had all the resources he needed to create such a highly regarded resort hotel. Though he was a little suspicious what Chan was doing with all that human money.

“Don’t give me that look, angel. You’ll get premature wrinkles.” Chan bopped Hyunjin’s nose, the angel could only blink in response.

“Okay. Well, you three stay here, and stay out of trouble! I’m looking at you, Innie.” Chan landed an accusing finger in the younger’s direction. All they could see was Jeongin’s hand as he waved the king off.

“There’s a pool!?” Seungmin exclaimed excitedly, already racing off towards some sliding doors, probably leading off to some giant penthouse balcony.

“I’ll miss you too, Minnie.” Chan said sarcastically, but the Nephilim was already outside. Chan sighed, “I’m counting on you to keep them in check.” He told Hyunjin, who could only nod. And with that, the king disappeared in a flutter of black feathers.

“Jinnie, I can hear you thinking from here.” Came Jeongin’s voice from the couch. Hyunjin walked over to him, leaning over the back of it, staring at Jeongin’s face upside down.

“You don’t think it’s a little outrageous that he owns a whole freaking resort?” Hyunjin questioned.

Jeongin shook his head, “I mean, he is the king, honey. I wouldn’t be surprised if he owned an entire island resort as well.”

“Did you just call me honey?” Hyunjin perked up, completely forgetting Chan’s questionable business ventures.

Jeongin giggled, reaching up to squish Hyunjin’s face, “So easily distracted are you.”

Hyunjin closed his eyes and pursed his lips, ready and waiting for a kiss—

“Speaking of distracted,” Jeongin let go of Hyunjin’s face and the angel’s face scrunched in disappointment.

“Seungmin, where are you?” Jeongin sang like they were playing a game of hide and seek. The boys heard a sudden splash and looked at each other, playful moods vanishing.

They rushed through the still open sliding doors only to see a puddle of water on the ground next to a giant lap pool.

“Seungmin!” Hyunjin called, not seeing the boy. He was getting ready to bust out his wings and go searching for him when a head popped up from the water.

“Seungmin!” Jeongin chastised.

“You guys should come in! The waters great!” The Nephilim smiled, leisurely swimming backwards. Hyunjin eyed the pile of clothes and discarded shoes on a chair next to the pool.

“Minnie, did you just—” Hyunjin turned his finger from the pile of clothes to the very naked torso of Seungmin lazily floating in the pool. The boy winked at him.

“Ohmygod.”

“Jinnie! Language.” Jeongin said, but there was a teasing glint in his eyes as he too started slipping out of his clothes.

“What the—I swear you demons,” Hyunjin covered his eyes with his hands, not looking until he heard another splash of Jeongin jumping into the pool.

“What’s with the modestly Jinnie? We’ve seen a lot more of you.” Seungmin teased as Jeongin swam over to him. His tiny bat wings flapped uselessly at the water. _Cute._

“Seungmin! That demon blood is corrupting you!” Hyunjin said in dismay, making his way over to stand at the edge of the pool so he could more effectively stare disapprovingly at them.

Jeongin wrapped his arms around Seungmin from behind. The two of them gave matching evil grins up at the angel.

“What are you going to do about it?” Seungmin goaded, eyebrow raised challengingly.

“Now is not the time to go swimming.” Hyunjin frowned.

Seungmin sighed, “When would be a better time? It’s not like Chan really gave us much to do other than to “stay out of trouble.”” Seungmin clung onto Jeongin’s arms as the two floated closer.

“We’re supposed to be protecting you.”

“And what better to protect me than to join me in the pool?” Seungmin grinned, “What if there’s a shark in here?”

“Besides Jeongin? Unlikely.”

“What if I drown and need immediate assistance?”

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes at the two, their evil grins replaced with big, pleading eyes.

“Ugh, fine!” Hyunjin said, already shedding off of his clothes before he too jumped in. When he emerged back to the surface, he was met with the two faces he loved the most—laughing at him.

Hyunjin frowned, “What? What is it?”

“You could have left your underwear on, Jinnie.” Seungmin said between giggles. Hyunjin felt his face grow hot.

“You—you mean you didn’t—”

Jeongin was laughing so hard he looked like he was about to drag Seungmin under as the Nephilim tried to hold up both their weights.

Hyunjin descended back underwater. He was an angel after all, and therefore, didn’t really need to breathe. He contemplated the merits of just staying underwater for eternity so he wouldn’t have to face his asshole boyfriends ever again.

Though joking as Hyunjin was, he instantly banished the thought from his head, the pain of losing Seungmin once before too unbearable to even entertain the idea of.

No, Hyunjin could never lose either of them ever again, he would make sure of it. Even if it was the last thing he’d do.

~

Jisung narrowly sidestepped two police officer’s hauling a man in handcuffs between them. Jisung’s never been inside a police office before. He found he rather liked the chaos of the place. The people arguing, the periodic sighs of the police as they tapped away on their computers, the prisoners scowling in their holding cells.

Jisung could get used to a place like this.

Minho’s hand touched the small of his back, he nodded towards the back of the police department where a figure in dark robes had just been escorted into a room.

“Do we knock?” Minho asked once they reached a metal door labeled, “SPN DIVISION.”

Jisung shrugged, reaching out to rap at the door. It took a bit, but a man with cat-like eyes peaked out from the other side. He squinted at Minho and Jisung suspiciously, or many he just needed glasses.

“Can I help you?” The man asked.

“Erm—I’m Jungkook’s cousin? I need to speak with him.” Minho said, hand raised like he was at school. The man looked at him, and then Jisung, before disappearing back into the room.

“Was that a no?” Minho asked the metal door. A few seconds later, a frazzled looking Jungkook appeared. His eyes lit up briefly at the sight of Minho, before receding back to their frazzled state.

“Minho, what are you doing here?” Jungkook looked over his shoulder as he asked like he had been in the middle of something.

“Sorry hyung, we came because we had a few questions to ask you about the cult at the old abandoned amusement park.” Minho rolled forward onto his toes, hands plunging deep into his coat pockets.

Jungkook’s eyebrows furrowed, “How did you know about that?”

Jisung and Minho shared a quick look, “Er—because we were there too?” Minho supplied. Jisung could almost hear the cambion’s “ha ha” hanging unvoiced in the air.

“You were with the cult?” Jungkook asked, eyes widening in horror.

“No!” Minho quickly defended, “We were there for a different reason, but we think, well, we _know_ the two are related. We need to ask you some questions about it.”

“I thought I sensed a demon.” A surly voice spoke up from behind Jungkook. Jungkook rolled his eyes as Jaehyun’s face poked out from over the human’s shoulder.

“Ugh,” Jisung said before shooting a hand up to cover his mouth, “Oops, did I say that out loud?” he blinked innocently.

Jaehyun’s scowl deepened. “Look, demons poking around in a police precinct isn’t exactly the best thing you could have done.”

“We’re not poking around in a precinct, we’re visiting relatives.” Jisung said haughtily, nudging Minho confidently with his shoulder.

“Well, I’m not sure what I can tell you really, they’re not being very cooperative.” Jungkook said right as one of the cult members threw choice expletives in their direction. Jungkook turned to glare daggers at them. Jisung swore the air around him darkened for a few seconds. He discretely stepped closer to Minho.

“Have they told you anything?” Minho asked, desperate.

“Well what we do—” Jungkook cut off when a crash came from behind them. “What we do kno—” He cut off again when an even louder crash came, along with an awful lot of grunting. “For crying out loud,” Jungkook muttered. “Jaehyun, fill them in. I have to deal with this.”

“Jaehyun, fill them in.” Jaehyun mocked in a high pitch voice as Jungkook stomped away. Jisung scowled at the angel, Minho only blinked at him.

Jaehyun let out a long, exasperated sigh. No, really. Jisung was pretty sure it lasted at least a full minute.

“Alright, what we know, these cultists have been operating for months now, they used to operate out of an abandoned building, but we also found them at the amusement park so, there’s that. Two of them captured Jungkook a few days ago, one got away, another—should have died but his body wasn’t found. And another one has light powers. Somehow.”

“Light powers? What do you mean?” Jisung questioned, weren’t the cultists human?

“Exactly what I said, light powers.” Jaehyun held out the palms of his hands like it was supposed to mean something. Minho high fived him.

“What?” The cambion asked when Jisung and Jaehyun shot him unimpressed looks.

“So what, he’s not human?”

“That’s the thing—I can’t sense what he is. If he’s a demon, he doesn’t seem like one.” Jaehyun’s eyes slid over to Minho. “Actually—it’s a lot like—”

“He’s cambion.” Jisung said more than questioned. Jaehyun looked at him wearily, like he didn’t enjoy Jisung finishing his sentences. _Well, the feeling is mutual, buddy._ Jisung wanted to throw up at the mere thought of agreeing with Jaehyun.

“Take us to him.” Jisung said, already making his way towards where Jungkook had gone.

“You can’t just—!” But Jisung was an unstoppable force as his stomps took him towards plexiglass lining the far wall. Beyond the glass was a metal table, Jungkook, the cat boy from earlier, and another boy (a cultist, he presumed), who sat cockily on the other side.

“’s that him?” Jisung asked. Jaehyun let out another one of his suffering sighs.

“Yeah, that’s the cocky shit alright.”

“Now now, that’s no way to talk about yourself.” Jisung retorted as he watched through the glass.

“HAH, good one, Sungie.” Minho said at his side. Jisung sighed. _You’re so cute, yet so embarrassing._

"Not me you idiot." Jaehyun said unnecessarily, "His name's Baekhyun. He was at the club when Jungkook was taken. He'd been distracting me--"

"Hmm, didn't think he'd be your type." Jisung deadpanned. Jaehyun scowled at him. 

“I’m going in there.” Jisung announced.

“What!?”

But Jisung was already shoving the door open and stepping inside. Jungkook instantly stood up at his arrival.

“Jisung, you shouldn’t be in here.”

Jisung ignored him, making his way over to the table. The boy looked at him with that annoying, cocky smile held in place. Jisung hoped with sadistic glee that by the end of this session, that smile of his would be gone.

“I have some questions for you, and you’re going to answer them.” Jisung said, voice as menacing it could be.

Baekhyun scoffed, “That’s awful bold coming from a little human like you.”

Jisung reached over to yank the boy harshly over the table until the latter was straining out of his seat. Baekhyun gave a grunt of discomfort, and Jisung yanked on his hair until he was staring up into Jisung’s black, demon eyes.

“Bold of you to assume I’m human.” Jisung seethed. Baekhyun looked significantly less cocky than before, Jisung’s blood thrummed with glee.

“Now, you will answer my questions, or this session will become exceedingly unpleasant for you.” Jisung didn’t bother releasing the boy, only yanked harder. “What are you?”

“You mean, you haven’t figured that out by now?” Baekhyun said through grit teeth. There was a small beam of light coming from behind him. Jisung cocked his head when he saw it was emanating from the boy’s hands, which were handcuffed to the chair he had been sitting in. _Must be uncomfortable,_ Jisung thought, _Good._

“You’re a cambion.”

“Ding ding ding!” Baekhyun strained.

“Why are you working with Lucifer?”

“He offered us something, something none of us could refuse.”

“What did he offer you?” Jisung asked when Baekhyun fell silent again. “I said, _what did he offer you?”_ Jisung dug sharp nails into his scalp, until Baekhyun yelped and struggled in his grasp.

“Powers! He—he offered us powers. Said if we found him some crown, he would make us like him.”

“Make you like him?” Jisung yanked Baekhyun’s head to the side, straining his neck in a way that made the boy cough.

“He’s the one that made me a cambion.”

“The others, are they also like you?”

Baekhyun tried to shake his head but failed, “N—no, not all of them. Only a few.”

“Was it one of you who messed with the roller coaster we were on?” Jisung questioned, anger stirring inside him for the fear it had caused Minho.

“What roller coaster?” Baekhyun seemed genuinely confused, "It--it was probably Kyungsoo, I haven't seen him since. What did you do to him?"

Jisung chuckled darkly, "I'm the one asking the questions here. Tell us what Lucifer is planning to use the crown for."

"I--I don't know! He didn't tell us why, and we didn't ask for obvious reasons." Baekhyun defended. Jisung let go of him and let him slump back into his chair with a sharp gasp.

"Alright, tell me this then. How can we find Lucifer?"

Baekhyun let out a humorless laugh, "You can't _find_ Lucifer. He comes when he wants to."

"He's not a _cat_ , you must have some way to contact him since you told him about the crown." Jisung challenged. Baekhyun sat quietly and Jisung knew he was right.

Jisung sighed deeply and steepled his fingers on top of the metal table, before pulling out his knife. Freshly sharpened, mind you.

“I am a demon. I’m not sure how they do things here in the human world, but I do know how they do things down in Hell.” Jisung ran the tip of the knife along his finger, he pricked himself just enough to let black blood droplets drip onto the tabletop. He watched Baekhyun the blood drip with trepidation, and Jisung almost hoped he made it harder for himself.

“Now, would you like to tell how to find Lucifer? Or should I make you bleed and write it out in your blood?”

Baekhyun looked up from Jisung’s blood dripping, and gulped. “It's not that simple.” He muttered.

"Don't worry, I'm very resourceful." Jisung said, playing with his knife just for show, he watched as the boy's eyes followed it warily. 

"A--a sacrifice. Lucifer only comes if there is blood spilt in his name. And a certain incantation."

Jisung cursed under his breath, "A blood sacrifice, of fucking course." He reached out to pick up a notepad and pen Jungkook had left behind on the table. "You said there's an incantation, tell me what it is." 

So he did, and Jisung scribbled the ancient Enochian language down, grateful for once Chan made him take a class on it. He guessed knowledge really was power. 

Jisung sauntered out of the room after Jungkook and the cat boy, who only gaped openly at him before going off to collect the other cultists.

He was met with an equally stunned gaze from Minho as he exited the room. And whatever sadistic glee had been thrumming in Jisung mere minutes before, instantly fled out of him.

Meanwhile, Jaehyun’s face was scrunched into an emotion Jisung couldn’t quite tell but looked somewhat like averse respect. Weird, but Jisung was more concerned about Minho.

“Minnie—I—”

“Fuck, Sungie.”

Jisung gulped, not ready to see the disgust in Minho’s eyes as he inevitably dumped Jisung’s demonic ass right then and there.

“That was so _hot."_

Jaehyun gagged and immediately left the scene. Jisung stood, shocked. “You—you’re not scared of me?”

“Maybe a little, is it weird that that kind of—turns me on?” There was a faint pink to Minho’s cheeks that made Jisung coo on the inside.

“You were into that?” Jisung asked, eyebrow raised questioningly as he took Minho’s hands into his own.

Minho shrugged, not meeting Jisung’s eyes, “I might be.”

“Well why don’t we go home and you can find out?” Jisung bit his lip, feeling far too hot in any place outside of Hell.

Jungkook rounded the corner. “I’m not even going to talk about what just happened in there.” The human said, running a hand tiredly down his face, “Whatever this is—it’s bigger than just a cult, isn’t it?”

Minho and Jisung nodded. Jungkook took a deep breath, “And I’m guessing you guys are going to do something about it?”

Again, Minho and Jisung nodded.

“Alright, I guess. But Min, be careful, okay?” Jungkook reached out to place a hand on Minho’s shoulder. Minho nodded his consent.

“Yes. Yes, of course I will.”

“Good, because I want to catch up with you when all of this is over with. I miss having family to talk to. I miss you.”

Jisung was starting to feel like he was intruding on a moment and had intruded on his moment. He took a step back to let the cousin’s do their thing and who did he run into? But lo and behold, Jaehyun.

“So what’s the plan?” Jaehyun asked, sounding resigned. Jisung turned to face him.

“Plan? There’s no plan that you’re involved in.” Jisung spat.

Jaehyun sighed, “For Christ’s sake, I know whatever that’s happening is involving Lucifer, you guys could use my help. Not to mention Seungmin’s still out there, what if news of what he is gets out and—”

 _But Lucifer already knows he exists now._ Jisung thought in dismay. Jisung decided not to tell that to Jaehyun.

“News of what he is won't get out." Jisung said instead, "And if that was a _threat,_ Jaehyun, then I swear to Satan you will not—”

“It wasn’t a threat! God,” Jaehyun ran a hand hastily through his hair. “I’m genuinely trying to help you guys—”

“Then help us by not helping us. Stay out of this, Jaehyun. I fucking mean it.”

Jaehyun looked like he had more to say, but kept silent, fuming in his spot. Jisung pulled away just as Minho came up to him.

“Ready to report back to the boss?” Minho asked sounding cheery. Jisung tried to let go of his anger towards the angel, giving Minho a tight smile as he reached out to take the cambion’s hand.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait—If you see Chan, tell him I want to talk to him—”

“I will do no such thing.” Jisung said, sick of the angel. “Goodbye, Jaehyun.”

The two teleported back down to the motherland, and quickly rehashed what they’d found out to Chan, Changbin, and Felix. 

“Lucifer is making cambions?” Chan asked, his inky skin had been looking far more grey lately. “What purpose could that possibly serve him?”

Jisung shrugged, “It seemed more like incentive for this cult to be his henchmen in the human realm."

Changbin scoffed, "That's a great incentive. Hey puny humans! Do my evil bidding and I'll make you a dark force of the underworld too! Wait--" Changbin stopped, a small frown on her face, "That actually doesn't sound so bad--"

"Binnie!" Felix chastised. Changbin only raised both arms in a shrug. 

“Did they say how long he’d had the crown for?”

Jisung cursed at himself, he’d completely forgotten about that in the thrill of the situation. "No, but I did figure out how we can summon him!" 

"Thank Satan!" Changbin whooped, "Now we don't have to pour over dusty ass scrolls in the library!"

"So how do we summon him?" Felix asked. 

"Err, well, about that," Jisung scratched the back of his head, "The guy said we need a blood sacrifice." 

"Absolutely not!" Felix exclaimed, "We are not killing innocent mortals!" 

"Maybe--we don't have to kill them?" Minho suggested. They all turned to look at him. 

"What do you mean?" Felix tilted his head in confusion. 

"What he really needs is blood, right? So what if we just--spill some blood?" 

"We can't just spill anyone's blood, Min. It had to be a humans blood--"

"And a virgin's." Chan interjected, causing Minho to choke and Changbin to cackle maniacally.

"Why is there so much hype about virgin blood? What's the big deal?" 

"Beats me." Changbin said, trying to sling an arm over Minho's shoulder, only to find she was now far too short to do so. 

"So, what? We just go up to a random virgin and ask if we can have a bit of their blood?" Felix shook his head in disproval. 

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Jisung shot back. Felix seemed to be thinking, before he lit up with an idea. No, literally. He actually started to glow brighter. _Darn angels and their natural glow._ All Jisung could manage was a dark wisp of despair every now and again. 

"We might not have to find a _random_ virgin." Felix looked like he was trying to keep a smile from his face. Jisung scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, until Changbin gave a small gasp. 

"Felix! Tell me you're not thinking what I think you are." 

The angel's smile slipped through his barriers, "I can't, because I am." 

"I thought you couldn't read our minds." Jisung remarked. 

"I can't," Felix said, "I just know Binnie so well." Felix turned to smile cheekily at Changbin, who shook her head in response. 

"We are not getting Jimin to give us blood. Besides! How do you even know he's a virgin?" Changbin accused. 

Felix laughed, "He shoots ghost hunting videos with his douchebag friend, of course he's a virgin." 

Jisung couldn't help but burst out laughing at that. He grabbed hold of Minho for support. 

“I'll leave the finding blood to you guys. Just--don't do anything I wouldn't do, alright?" Chan warned, eyeing them each in turn. "Meanwhile, I’m going back to the amusement park to see if I can pick up anything about Lucifer and the crown.”

“Do you want one of us to come with you?” Jisung asked, though truthfully, he wanted to stay and do some exploring of his own—with Minho.

Chan shook his head, “I’ve got this covered. You guys work together.”

“You got it, boss.” Jisung raised his hand in salute. Chan walked forward to ruffle Jisung’s hair, a small, fond smile gracing his features. Jisung felt his (hard) demeanor crack just a bit.

“You did well, Sungie. I’ll see you guys soon.”

“Hey! I helped too!” Minho interjected their little moment petulantly. Chan let out a chuckle.

“Thanks, Min. I knew I could count on you.”

Minho preened at the compliment like a 5 year old. Jisung rolled his eyes for show but squealed at his cuteness on the inside.

Once Chan had left, Minho pulled Jisung aside, “You’re really not going to tell him that Jaehyun wants to talk to him?”

Jisung scoffed, “No, why should I? That angel is bad news. Chan does not need such toxic energy in his life. He get’s enough of that from ruling Hell for Satan’s sake.”

“Fair point.” Minho nodded.

“But, about earlier—” Jisung stepped into Minho’s space, walking his finger’s up the cambion’s sternum. He watched as Minho’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

"Hello, lovebirds?" Changbin called out. Jisung turned to see the demon's head tilted at them with a cheeky smile, her black hair fanning out behind her. Changbin really was adorable as a girl. "Save it for the bedroom please!" 

Jisung scrunched up his face to mock Changbin, who only stuck her tongue in retaliation. 

"That's enough fighting children, we've got some virgin blood to collect." Felix said.

"A stranger sentence has never been said." Minho remarked quietly. 

"You are far too happy about this." Changbin side eyed the angel with distaste. 

"What can I say?" Felix smiled, "A life for a life, and his debt is repaid." 

"Are you--quoting Mulan?" Minho asked incredulously. 

Felix blinked, "What's Mulan?" 

"We're not killing him though, right?" Jisung clarified, not sure if he was worried or disappointed. 

"We are definitely _not_ killing Jimin." Changbin said, making a big "X" with her arms. 

"Right, right, no killing." Felix quipped. 

"And you're the angel here?" Jisung laughed, slapping Felix on the chest. The angel let out a small "oof." 

"How do we even find him?" Minho asked. 

"Well, we could do a tracking spell." Changbin said before wandering off. 

"With what? We don't have anything of hi--oh." Felix cut off when Changbin came back with a large coat in her hands. 

"He gave that to you?" Felix's voice was curt. 

"Don't be like that, he was being nice!" Changbin said, "And besides, now we have a way to find him!" 

"A coat for his blood, what a perfect exchange!" Jisung said, already excited for the drama about to ensure. "Let's get started!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, I missed Team Hell shenanigans  
> Ok ngl tho I realllly like writing Jaehyun's character loll the dynamicssss


	23. Raise your stakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaehyun finally gets his chance to patch things up with Chan, and he's not going to let it go to waste.  
> Team Hell's mission takes them somewhere they were not expecting.  
> One word ~~ vampires ~~  
> Meanwhile Inminjin, well--you'll see

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN OVER A MONTH ASDFJKL pls forgive me ㅠㅠ  
> I forgot how much I love writing these characters daymn, I missed them  
> And there's actually some t h e m e s in this chapter?? Ahwah?  
> It's a looongg chapter, but I hope it somewhat makes up for the long wait! :')

Jaehyun thought they were done with the blasted place, leave it to Jungkook to try and make his life that much more unpleasant.

“My bracelet, I lost it.” Jungkook was acting far too distressed for a silly bracelet.

Jaehyun frowned at him, vaguely remembering spotting Jungkook wearing a bracelet.

“It was from my sister,” Jungkook further explained, “I need to find it. I must have dropped it back at the amusement park.”

Jungkook didn’t remember much of when he went Super Satan on the cultists, but cursed Jungkook _did_ do a pretty bang-up job, so Jaehyun couldn’t really complain. Jungkook looked about to storm out the door all the way back to the abandoned amusement park, but Yoongi called for him.

“Kook, we need you in here.” Yoongi huffed, his gruff voice seemed even gruffer. Jungkook nodded to him in defeat, before turning pleading eyes to Jaehyun.

“Can you go back and get it for me? Please?” Jungkook added, and Jaehyun suddenly found he couldn’t say the word “no,” they were already forming on his tongue, but the look Jungkook was giving him made it dissipate into thin air. Jaehyun grumbled at the loss.

“Fine.” He said, and Jungkook suddenly looked even scarier than when his curse overtook him—he looked ready to hug Jaehyun, so Jaehyun flashed himself out of the room before that could happen.

Jaehyun muttered angrily to himself as he combed the dilapidated tent at the old, abandoned amusement park for signs of a bracelet. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. Was it cloth? Was it silver? Was it rubber? He had no idea. He just searched for something that could fit around a wrist.

The shrine the cultists had was now crushed to smithereens, candles and various occult objects scattered or in pieces on the floor. Jaehyun was pretty sure about two members still managed to get away, but since Jisung had did his thing—they were definitely getting somewhere.

Jaehyun hated to admit he’d been a little impressed by the younger demon’s investigative tactics. It in no way would fly in the human world, but it did the job. Jaehyun couldn’t help but admire that aspect about demons, they knew what had to be done, and they did it. Angels were often too caught up on the morality of things, making work harder on themselves by having to reevaluate every situation that started to draw even a little bit out of the lines of morality.

Jaehyun was combing the floor when he finally caught sight of something glinting in the weak rays of sunshine that reached the bottom of the sunken floor.

He bent down to pick up a slim, silver chain with various pendants hanging off of it. It looked like something a little girl would wear, not a cursed, supernatural police officer, so Jaehyun supposed he probably found the right bracelet.

He made his way out of the tent, ready to flash back to the precinct when he caught sight of a familiar figure walking not 30 feet away. His heart squeezed like a vice in his chest.

_Chan._

Jaehyun followed after the demon before his mind could really catch up to him. He followed Chan all the way to an oddly intact red pavilion, hesitating when he reached the arched entry way.

He wanted to see Chan, _god did he want to see Chan,_ but he couldn’t help but be a little nervous at what the demon would say. He knew he really fucked up with Chan, even if he didn’t entirely understand why the demon was still angry with him.

They saved Seungmin after all, didn’t they? And everything Jaehyun had done was to help Chan, to help _them,_ to make their relationship better, stronger _._

Jaehyun managed to suck up his courage and trailed inside. Chan was flitting around a tall, empty podium in the middle of the room, frowning gravely at it. He flew up and down and all around the podium as if he too was looking for something.

Jaehyun suddenly felt awkward as moments went by and Chan still hadn’t noticed he was standing there. It would be weird to announce himself now, since he’d already been watching the demon king for quite some time, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

It had been so long since he’d last seen Chan, and god, was he a sight for sore eyes. Jaehyun would be content just watching the king all day. It didn’t matter what Chan was doing, whether it be paperwork, or directing demons, or perhaps slaying a few monsters, Jaehyun wouldn’t care, Chan was breathtaking in every way.

Chan landed back on the ground with a frustrated sigh, hand mussing up his fluffy white hair before he finally turned and saw Jaehyun. The king startled, stepping back, his charcoal eyes widening at the sight of the angel. Jaehyun smiled sheepishly.

“Um, hi.” He said, and then chastised himself. _Stupid, stupid! You haven’t seen him in how long and that’s what you say?_

“Jaehyun.” Chan breathed out. Jaehyun could have melted right there on the spot, but instead, his smile widened.

“Chan, it’s so good to _see you—”_ But he stopped short when Chan took another step back and Jaehyun realized he had been advancing towards the demon.

“Right.” Jaehyun said, hands clenching into fists at his side, “You’re still angry at me.”

Chan seemed to finally gather himself, and he scoffed, “Jaehyun, angry would be an understatement, though I’m not even sure that’s the right word to describe how I feel about you lately.”

“Then—how do you feel about me?” Jaehyun would do anything to talk to Chan, to keep this conversation going just a little longer—

Chan tilted his head in a way Jaehyun found terribly endearing, “Disappointed? Hurt? Betrayed—I think that’s how I’d describe it.”

Jaehyun felt his heart sink at his words, deflating in on himself like a balloon. It didn’t matter how confident Jaehyun felt with his actions, or with himself in general. Chan’s opinion could rattle him down to his core, it was the only opinion that he truly cared for. Perhaps Felix and Hyunjin’s coming in second, but they already hated him, so it wasn’t like it could get any worse.

“I’m sorry, Chan. I truly am, for making you hate me—”

“I never said hate.” Chan corrected, voice softer. Jaehyun looked at him in shock.

“You hurt me, broke my trust—but I never said I hated you.” The king said, looking away from the angel. “I’m not sure I know how.” He added, though it’s barely audible to even Jaehyun’s ears.

No matter, he’d shoot his shot.

“Chan, _Channie_ —” Jaehyun started, walking towards the king like he might a wounded animal, Chan didn’t step away this time, but he also wouldn’t meet Jaehyun’s eyes.

Jaehyun’s approach was unbearably slow. He wanted nothing more than to run up to Chan and wrap him in his arms, but he knew Chan wouldn’t take too well to that. Hell, they hadn’t even hugged _before_ everything hit the fan. Jaehyun cursed at his past self, he should have taken the chance when he could have.

“I’m _sorry,_ you were the last person I wanted to hurt.” Jaehyun said earnestly, placing his hands ever so carefully onto Chan’s arms. It’s true, after all. The whole world could turn its back on Jaehyun (which, it seemed it had) and Jaehyun would still care for Chan. He would still worry when Chan was hurting.

Chan looked up at him, black eyes gleaming dubiously.

“You got what you wanted, Jae.” Chan said, voice quiet, resigned, “You made your Nephilim.”

Jaehyun squeezed Chan’s arms lightly. “I suppose I did, yes, but—why doesn’t it feel like a win?” There was a hint of bitter amusement in his voice. “Perhaps it’s because the only real reason I did everything I did, was so that I could be with you.”

“We could have been, Jae—”

“No, we couldn’t. Don’t kid yourself Chan, you know better than anyone that Heaven and Hell would never allow the Leader of Angels, and the King of Hell to be in a relationship. You know the turmoil and unrest that would have risen because of it.” Even speaking of it out loud made Jaehyun’s chest ache. Why was love such a complicated matter? Wasn’t it enough that two people loved each other to begin with? Wasn’t that a miracle on its own?

Chan frowned at this, but didn’t say anything, probably because he knew what Jaehyun said was true.

“I didn’t care.” Chan replied, voice still soft, Jaehyun tilted the king’s face up gently to look at him. “That wouldn’t have stopped me. I’m the _king,_ damnit. What am I if I can’t even make decisions for myself? If I can’t protect those I love—” 

Jaehyun felt stricken, like a gear that had long been rusted causing his whole system to malfunction finally started working again. Jaehyun _gets it._ He gets why Chan is so upset. Not just because Jaehyun put their friends in danger, but because he didn’t just break Chan’s trust, he broke a very specific part of it.

It was something Jaehyun had never really thought of before. Chan was the all-powerful King of Hell, he always had himself together, seeming strong, confident, and sure in what he was, in _who_ he was. It was what had attracted Jaehyun to him in the first place—but there was underlying doubt in the king, as there is in everyone. Something Jaehyun failed to realize soon enough.

Chan was worried he’d lose control. Not of himself, but of a situation. He was the king, sure, but demons were fickle beings, always having a mind of their own, and insurgence wasn’t an unlikely event to happen in Hell. Chan was in charge, but just barely, holding onto the threads of power for dear life.

All he wanted was to be enough to make his own decision, enough to enact what he thought was right and just, to protect those he cared about, and Jaehyun hadn’t taken that into account. Had decided for Chan what _he_ thought was best for the both of them. A pretty big, risky decision at that since it had endangered those closest to the king, the very core of all he stood for.

“You’re strong, Chan, stronger than anyone I know.” Jaehyun said, tracing down the side of the king’s face. His ink black skin looked paler than normal. He wondered if it was the horrid lighting making him seem faded, or the stress he must be under, but either way Jaehyun could see him now more clearly than ever.

“I’m terribly sorry I misused your trust. I’d do anything to get it back.”

Chan leaned further into Jaehyun’s hand, though Jaehyun wondered if he was aware of it. Chan opened his eyes to look at Jaehyun, and the king’s gaze was soft, much softer than it had been for a while now. Jaehyun wondered if he wasn’t the only one as whipped for the other as he thought.

He waited for Chan to say something, _anything,_ but the king seemed content to just be there, letting Jaehyun hold him in his hands, and Jaehyun’s heart stuttered. Perhaps he had a shot after all.

“What are you doing here, Channie?” He asked, voice a hum more than anything.

Chan raised an eyebrow, “I could ask you the same thing. You weren’t spying on me, where you?” It seemed to be a joke, but there was a hint of apprehension in Chan’s voice that reminded Jaehyun he was not completely off the hook.

“Of course not,” Jaehyun said adamantly, “My charge dropped a bracelet, so I was here to get it back.” He lifted the silver bracelet in his hand as proof. Chan eyed it before looking back at Jaehyun. He wasn’t smiling, but he was not frowning either.

“You have a charge now.” Chan said, he already knew.

Jaehyun nodded, “Yeah, the angels thought it fitting punishment to start back from the beginning.”

Chan nodded, “The beginning’s not a bad place to restart.”

Jaehyun couldn’t help but take it as an invitation. His hopes flying high at Chan’s words.

“What are you doing here, Channie? Were you looking for something? Let me help you.” Jaehyun hoped he didn’t come across sounding as desperate as he felt. He wanted to get back onto Chan’s good side, hoping he might already have a foot in the door.

“I was—well, we _were_ looking for the Golden Fillet.” Chan finally disclosed, and Jaehyun couldn’t help but suck in a breath.

“The Monkey King’s crown? But—why?”

“Jeongin had a vision.” Chan said, sounding resigned.

“He—has visions?” Jaehyun asked intrigued, but he also knew any of Chan’s friends were a touchy matter at the moment, so he masked his interest. “And he saw it here?”

“Yes, it was here, but—it wasn’t the real one.” Chan pulled a glowing golden crown out of nowhere, and Jaehyun’s eyes widened as he took it in. Chan let him take it surprisingly easily.

“It’s fake.” Chan reiterated, probably seeing the surprise on Jaehyun’s face.

“Then—where’s the real one?”

Chan didn’t answer, and Jaehyun dragged his eyes away from the circlet to Chan, who looked almost worse than when they had a dead Seungmin lying limp and bloody in front of them.

“With Lucifer.”

Jaehyun didn’t breathe, only ogled at Chan, because if the Monkey King’s crown was in Lucifer’s hands—a forbidden love might not be the thing that tears Heaven and Hell apart after all.

“What—how?” Jaehyun asked, and Chan dove into an abridged version of the story. Jaehyun could tell he was leaving parts of it out, probably still not trusting Jaehyun enough to tell him the whole story, even though Chan had to know Jaehyun’s was not in league with any of the seven Princes of Hell, right?

“Tell me more about Jeongin’s vision?” Jaehyun prompted. Screw touchy subjects, there was something about it that demanded further attention, though Jaehyun wasn’t exactly sure what—

“He said he saw the crown, right here, and a shadow figure materializing out of the walls. Lucifer.” Chan relayed, “And then he looked straight at him.”

“That’s it.” Jaehyun said, snapping, “What Jeongin saw wasn’t some sort of premonition, it was a ploy. To drag him out, to drag all of _you_ here. Though I’m not sure how Lucifer was projecting to Jeongin in the first place—”

Chan went quiet, jaw working in the way Jaehyun knew meant he was thinking hard. “I suppose you’re probably right—”

“Come on, we can check.” Jaehyun pulled Chan to stand beside him, before holding his arms out in front of him. Jaehyun concentrated hard, pulling from the memories of the room sunk deep within the walls and the floorboards until he found what he was looking for. An event that happened around a month ago.

Jaehyun opened his eyes, glowing blue with heavenly light, and let the events play out in front of them.

Chan gripped his hand hard, and Jaehyun almost lost a hold on the residual memory.

“That’s Lucifer.” Chan said, eyes narrowing as he took in every inch of the scene. There was another person with him. _Baekhyun,_ Jaehyun realized with a scowl. The cambion must know more than he’d divulged to Jisung.

“But who’s the boy?” Chan questioned.

“He’s another one of Lucifer’s cultist henchmen.”

They watched as Lucifer grabbed the Monkey King’s crown with ease, slipping a fake, dull, golden crown in its place. He stepped aside as Baekhyun walked up to it. Light emanated from his hands, light almost too blinding to look at, but when he pulled away, the fake crown was glowing much like the real one in Lucifer’s hands.

Chan inhaled at his side, “That boy, he’s one of the cambions Lucifer made, isn’t he?”

Jaehyun nodded, letting the memory fade when Lucifer and Baekhyun disappeared with the Monkey King’s crown in tow and the glowing, fake crown sitting in its place.

“He set it all up.” Chan said, dejectedly. “I thought we’d beat the devil, but he’d beat us first.” Chan let go of Jaehyun’s hand to bury his face in his own. “This is so embarrassing. And distressing. And probably going to kill us all.”

Jaehyun placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on Chan’s shoulder. “It won’t, he won’t. I can promise you that.”

Chan lowered his hands to look at him, eyes swimming with an emotion Jaehyun couldn’t read. “How could you promise that?”

“I’d never let anything happen to you, Chan.” Jaehyun said simply. He’d never been so sure of anything.

Chan grimaced more than he smiled, “I feel like the world is collapsing around me.”

Jaehyun could relate. It’s all he’d felt ever since the truth about his actions had gotten out. Ever since he tried to stop them from going after the shapeshifter, from stopping his plans. He realized now how little that mattered in the grand scheme of things. He’d been naïve, an idiot, thinking that would fix anything.

“The world is collapsing, and those I care about the most are slipping through my fingers.” Chan said.

“If the world is collapsing, I’ll be there to help you hold it up.” Jaehyun said. “Whatever you want, whatever you need, I’ll do it.”

~  
  


Finding Jimin was expected. It wasn’t hard to track the owner of an item, after all. Especially when the owner of said item was human. What they hadn’t been expecting was where it would take them.

“He’s—here?” Jisung squeaked, pointing up at the most haunted looking church Felix had ever seen (and he’d seen a surprising handful of haunted churches in his afterlife).

“What the hell is he doing here?” Jisung sounded almost angry.

Minho sighed, “Well, he _is_ an amateur ghost hunter, he’s probably—”

“Ghost hunting.” Jisung finished with a groan. “But this place isn’t haunted, it’s—”

Changbin’s gasp cut him off, a hand flying up to her mouth. “Oh shit.”

“Oh shit is right!” Jisung exclaimed with a throw of his arms.

“What is it?” Minho asked, anxiously latching onto Jisung’s shoulders.

Jisung turned to him with a grave look on his face (hah, no pun intended).

“Vampires.”

“V-vampires?” Minho and Felix echoed. Vampires weren’t angel jurisdiction, they were Hell’s realm of chaos. Felix wasn’t even sure if he’d ever seen one in real life before. He had to say his curiosity was instantly piqued. 

“We came here a handful of years ago to scope out a rogue clan of vampires that were taking a little too many civilians off the street, if you know what I mean.” Changbin said with a lift of an eyebrow. Felix frowned at her.

“Did they kill them?” Minho asked, Jisung nodded.

“It was bloody, very bloody. I’m a demon and even I had a hard time walking through there. I can’t believe your human side hoe is in there, Binnie.”

Changbin’s mouth dropped open in offense, “He’s not a side hoe!” She hissed at him. “He’s just a friend.”

Jisung made a face at her before sighing and starting towards the entrance. The entrance—that was already slightly open.

“Did you kill all the vampires?” Minho asked.

Jisung hummed, “Most of them, but some of them got away. We were going to track them, but it’s rather hard to track the undead, and we didn’t hear of any more problems coming from this area, so we figured it was okay.”

“I see all the caution and no-trespassing signs didn’t stop them.” Felix remarked as they passed a heavily leaning sign that looked like it was covered in old, dried blood. Felix wrinkled his nose in distaste. Minho gulped.

When they reached the door, Minho’s hand shot out to cover Jisung’s mouth. Felix and Changbin looked at them questioningly.

“Don’t you even think about it.” Minho said to Jisung before turning to them, “He has a bad habit of committing the number one horror movie faux pas.”

When Felix and Changbin stared back at him uncomprehendingly, Minho sighed, “He announces himself in dark and creepy places.”

“Ah.” Changbin and Felix said, shrugging as Changbin shouldered her way through the doors.

“How are we going to find them in here?” Minho whispered as they creeped along the entry way. It looked much like any other old, decaying building; dark, dirty, and filled with unwanted creatures (more so than just the rats, it would seem).

“Just listen to the sounds of idiocy and follow that.” Felix whispered back earning a snicker from Jisung and an elbow in the ribs from Changbin.

“Let’s just find Jimin and get out of this disgusting building.” Changbin said, wrinkling her nose as they entered the nave of the church. Pews were lined neatly on either side of the room. Some were caved in while others looked hardly touched by the ages. Jisung went first as they made their way down the middle aisle.

There was a permeable stench in the air that made Felix cover his nose with his sleeve. He could see the other’s in their group were equally as repulsed by the stench. Felix didn’t want to make too hasty a conclusion, but it did smell an awful lot like—

“Guys, look.” Jisung pointed towards the front where the alter would have been, but in its place were dead bodies.

Minho gasped as the demons went up to examine them. Jisung crouched by the body, nose wrinkling in disgust.

“Not Jimin, but they’ve definitely been dead for some time. That’s nasty.” Jisung fast walked back towards Minho and Felix. They went to turn towards another room when Felix realized Changbin wasn’t following. 

“Binnie? Come on.” Felix called to her, but Changbin wasn’t paying them any attention. She had her gaze trained on the balconies above.

“Bin, what is it?” Felix made his way over towards her, looking up to see what the demon was looking at, but didn’t see anything.

“Don’t you think it’s a little too quiet in here?” Changbin asked.

“You’re right, I’m not hearing nearly enough idiocy in here.” Felix said, hoping to make Changbin laugh, or at least crack an disapproving smile, but she only frowned.

“Something’s not right.”

“LOOK OUT!” They heard Minho’s muffled voice coming from the direction they had been heading in, followed by distant thuds and a crash. Changbin and Felix ran towards the noise, pulling out their blades as they careened around the corner. Jisung was fighting off what had to be a vampire. If their almost translucent skin and razor-sharp teeth were any indication. The vampire kept snapping at Jisung like a rabid animal, but Minho was nowhere to be seen.

“MINHO! WHERE’S MINHO?” Felix yelled to Jisung. Changbin sliced her blade through the vampire’s neck, effectively decapitating it but in doing so, drenching Jisung in its blood.

Jisung looked hardly phased by it, eyes wild as he stormed off down the hallway. “Another one took him, we have to move fast.”

The three took off down the hall, looking into each room that they passed and damn why the hell did one church have so many rooms in it?

“Up there.” Changbin pointed towards stairs that were hiding at the end of the hallway, and Jisung was the first to climb up them quickly. Felix heard a muffled yelp coming further down the second floor.

They took off running, coming up to one of the balconies only to see Minho crouched over a vampire’s body, a wooden splinter sunk straight through its heart.

“Min!” Jisung called, coming over the to cambion. Minho looked up at them with wide eyes.

“I can’t believe that worked.” He breathed. A wide smile made its way across his face immediately after. “It had me in the first half, not gonna lie.”

Jisung punched him in the chest halfheartedly. “Good to see your trainings paid off, solider.”

“I think Jimin might be up here though. It seemed like the vampire was trying to take me somewhere. Maybe to their nest to feed or something.”

Jisung held out his hand to help Minho up.

“You seem to know an awful lot about vampires.” Felix remarked as they made their way across the balcony.

“Dude, when you live in the human realm, you gotta.”

Felix’s eyes widened, “Are vampire attacks that common? Heaven surely would have heard about them by now—is Hell not—?”

Minho’s giggling cut the angel off. “No man, I mean—vampires. They’re all the rage in media. Vampire movies, vampire books, just—vampires.” 

Felix tried to understand, he really did, but he gave up after a minute. Humans were so strange. Why they’d have so many fantasies about vicious, undead, blood sucking creatures was beyond Felix.

Minho pointed towards a window lining a wall off the balcony. It looked dark inside, but then again, so did the rest of the church. Felix doubted there was any working electricity.

“Do you have your sword?” Jisung asked Minho, who scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“Uhh right, about that. I may have—forgotten it back in Hell?”

Jisung shot him a disappointed look.

“What? I thought we were making a house call! What purpose would a sword serve in a crappy one-bedroom apartment?” Minho argued.

“Always carry a weapon on a mission Minho, always.” Jisung chastised.

“Here, you can use this.” Felix materialized his own sword out of thin air (a perk of being an angel), and handed it off to Minho who took it gratefully.

“Min, you stay here.” Jisung said, already creeping towards the hallway with the door.

“But I—”

“We need someone to keep watch, and stop anyone—err, any _thing_ else from entering.” Jisung rectified. The two had a whole silent conversation Felix really couldn’t be bothered with. He saw Changbin making her own way towards the door and quickly followed after her.

Much like the entrance to the church, this door was already ajar. Changbin peeked through the crack.

“Vampires.” She whispered.

“How many?”

“I can’t tell, but there’s—at least three.”

“What about Jimin, do you see—”

Changbin’s sharp inhale was all the answer he needed.

“They’ve got him chained up, oh hell—”

Felix placed a hand on Changbin’s shoulder, the latter looked up at him, eyes shining with worry.

“On the count of three, ready? One, two—”

“Three!” Jisung yelled from behind them, kicking open the door.

From there it was rather a blur of slashing, and dodging, and snarls in the dark that really put Felix’s night vision to the test. Felix hadn’t been in a fight like this in so long—he’d forgotten the exhilarating rush of adrenaline that came with it. There was nothing like a good beheading alongside your girlfriend and your girlfriend’s best friend to really kick off the night.

There were definitely more than three vampires like Changbin had initially stated, but asides from one hairy instance when a vampire had attacked him from behind right as Felix had sliced through another, knocking the angel over onto the ground and almost getting a good bite into his neck (a bout of heavenly light proved to be even more effective than a sword, instantly disintegrating the vampire on the spot)—they decimated the vampire nest with ease.

When Felix had sliced through the last vampire, still in his ending victory pose, he looked to see Jisung (who must have lost his blade at some point) rip a piece of wood off the decaying wall and stab the vampire straight through the heart. The vampire crumbled on top of him, and Jisung kicked the body off, dusting off his hands nonchalantly.

Meanwhile, Changbin was fussing over a barely conscious Jimin, a row of dead vampires in her wake. Felix felt an odd sense of pride at the scene. _Yeah, my girlfriend just sliced through three vampires like they were cheese, what can_ your _girlfriend do?_

“Oh god, Jimin—” Changbin huffed, hands trying to tug the chains off the boy’s arms where they were held up above him. Jimin groaned, head lolling to the side. There was blood caked all over him, no doubt the boy was suffering from excessive blood loss.

“Tae—” Jimin muttered.

“No, It’s Changbin.” Changbin said, giving up on trying to tug off the chains and slicing through them with her blade instead. Jimin crumpled onto her and Changbin would have gone down with him, unable to support his dead weight, but Felix surged forwards to quickly take Jimin into his own arms.

“Tae—hyung—” Jimin muttered again, blood shot eyes cracking open.

“Felix, heal him, please.” Changbin turned pleading eyes towards Felix, and who was he to deny her request? He pressed his finger’s to Jimin’s forehead, blue light shining until Jimin gave a dramatic gasp and righted himself in Felix’s arms.

“Holy—” Jimin remarked, wide eyes taking in the three of them, all equally caked in vampire blood.

“Were those really v-vampires?” Jimin’s voice stammered, wide eyes taking in the vampire bodies littering the floor.

“No, they were just extremely pale humans with super sharp teeth and a taste for blood.” Jisung deadpanned. They all stared at him.

“Yes, they were vampires.” Changbin clarified.

Jimin’s eyes widened even more as he suddenly gripped Changbin’s shoulders. Felix was about to pull him off when Jimin spoke,

“Taehyung! He was here too, they must have him somewhere. Oh god—”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him.” Changbin said reassuringly, placing her hands atop Jimin’s and Felix could help but scowl, extremely displeased by the sight.

“J-Jisung!” Minho’s voice called from the other side of the wall. Jisung ran out and they followed after him. Back on the balcony, but in the corner behind a pew and enshrouded in darkness, Minho’s head popped up. He looked at them in distress.

“T-there’s someone back here.”

Jimin pushed through all of them to Minho’s side and choked on a gasp.

“Tae! No, no, no,”

Taehyung was sprawled down on the floor looking, well—dead. There was far too much blood on his neck and on his clothes for him to have survived that.

“They must have drained him and were keeping Jimin as back up supply.” Jisung whispered to Felix. There was a sad look in the demon’s eyes that Felix hadn’t been expecting to see. Wasn’t he the one who had shown such a strong dislike towards them? Perhaps even more so than Felix himself.

They watched as Jimin sobbed over Taehyung’s body, and Felix had a jarring sense of déjà vu. He’d seen this before. Jimin, crying over the body of someone he loved. Felix’s heart felt a pang of something he did _not_ want to identify. Empathy, pity.

_Is this his fate? To always lose the ones he loves?_

Felix pulled himself out of his stupor to see Changbin staring at him with unshed tears. This scene was familiar to her too, after all. She’d been the one in Taehyung’s place once before.

Felix made his way forward, “Maybe I can help.” He leaned by Taehyung’s side, eyes slipping closed as he placed a hand on the boy’s forehead. Heavenly light seeped from his hand—until Jimin tried to pull him off.

“S-stop! You’re hurting him!”

 _How can I hurt him when he’s already dead?_ Felix was ready to snap back when he looked down to see Jimin was right. Where Felix’s hand met Taehyung’s skin, it was starting to turn black like soot. Felix ripped his hand back, staring at the boy incredulously.

“Oh shit.” Jisung said from his spot leaning over the pew in front of them. “He’s not dead. Well—not entirely. More like—”

“He’s undead.” Changbin finished, leaning over them to see as well.

Jimin scrunched his eyebrows, wet tear tracks shining down his face. “You mean—he’s a vampire?”

“He is now.” Felix confirmed. The soot like imprint of his hand surely would have disintegrated the boy if he were a full vampire, but because he was still transitioning, he’d only burned him slightly.

“Will he—will he be alright?” Jimin hiccupped.

“Probably.” Jisung said, hopping off the pew, “I could hook him up with a vampire I know. He could show him the ropes and such.”

“You’re friends with vampires?” Jimin asked incredulous, “Just—who—who are you guys?” Jimin looked over each of them before his gaze eventually landed on Changbin. Changbin wouldn’t meet the boy’s eyes, looking guilty.

“Demon.” Jisung said with a raised hand. When he turned back around, he flashed his black demon eyes at the boy with a grin. Jimin gasped, scrambling backwards only to run into Felix.

“Are you all—?”

“Heavens, no. I’m an angel.” Felix said, letting his aura glow a little brighter. Jimin stared at him in awe leaving Felix feeling extremely satisfied. _That’s right buddy, I’m an angel of Heaven, try to beat that!_

“I’m only half.” Minho said from his spot leaning against Jisung. “Demon, that is.”

“What’s the other half?”

And Felix had to hand it to the boy, he was taking all of this rather well. Perhaps it came with being a ghost hunter, even an amateur one at that. They must know at least a little about supernatural folklore. Whether Jimin believed it priorly or not, this was probably not completely new information to him.

“Human.” Minho said with a wink. Jimin gaped at him for a while before shaking himself and turning to Changbin.

“You must be an angel then, am I right?”

Jisung and Minho immediately burst out laughing, leaning over each other in their giggling fit. Changbin looked even guiltier. Felix wished she didn’t. Demons or angels—Felix was starting to see there really wasn’t too much of a difference between them. Changbin was Changbin, and it didn’t matter what Changbin was, but _who_ she was. And who she was was fucking fantastic.

“N-not quite. I’m also a—demon.” Changbin’s voice got so soft towards the end it was almost undiscernible over the two crackheads cackling off to the side.

“W-what?” Jimin blinked at Changbin and Felix read his thoughts.

_She’s a demon? But—how? Every time she looks at me it feels more like Heaven is smiling down on me than Hell is boiling over. Well, unless—_

Felix cut off his mind reading right there not wanting to hear what nasty thoughts Jimin had about _his_ girlfriend. Felix leaped to his feet and quickly pulled Changbin into his side.

“Yes, she’s a demon, do you have a problem with that?” Felix snapped, eyes narrowed with hostility.

“No! No!” Jimin waved his hands in front of him. “I was just—surprised ‘s all.”

There came a groan from behind them, and they all looked to see it was coming from no other than Taehyung.

“Jimin, get behind me.” Changbin said, urgently gesturing Jimin towards her, but Jimin wasn’t paying attention.

“Tae! Tae! Are you okay? Can you hear me?” Jimin shook his friend and Changbin peeled away from Felix to drag Jimin back right as Taehyung bolted upright and lunged for his friend.

Jimin screamed in surprise and Jisung launched himself over the pew to subdue the fledgling vampire from behind.

“He’s bloodthirsty! They always are when they’re first born. He won’t be in his right mind until he’s had some blood!”

“He can have mine.” Jimin said, voice only slightly wavering, but Changbin held him back.

“While that’s very nice of you, Jimin, you can’t have a fledging feed off you. They don’t know how to stop. He’ll only drain you.” Changbin explained.

Jisung almost lost his grip on the struggling Taehyung. The boy’s eyes were wild, and his teeth razor sharp, snapping at nothing and rabid much like the vampires they’d fought off earlier.

Where there vampires that were sane? Felix supposed there had to be, since Jisung mentioned one that could show him the ropes. Not all creatures of Hell were inherently bad, after all.

“Can someone h-help me?” Jisung grit out, “We just need to hold him until I can reach Hoseok. He’ll be able to help.”

They ended up tying Taehyung with some chains lying around. (Felix decided not to question it, they were in a vampire nest after all.) Jisung flashed out to go get Hoseok, leaving the rest of them there to twiddle their thumbs and wait.

Minho was onto his 5th game suggestion (a friendly round of 20 questions) when Jisung flashed back, this time with a man.

Jisung grinned, “Guys, this is Hoseok.”

“Hello!” Hoseok lifted a hand in greeting, a big smile on his face. Felix was taken aback by such a friendly expression on a vampire with rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“My friends all call me Hobi,” Hobi the vampire said again, “Where’s the—oh,” He turned to spot a still rabid Taehyung chained up in the corner. He strode over easily, producing a blood bag from his coat pocket.

“There there little one, drink up! I brought you my favorite type.” Hoseok said cheerily as he fed the blood to Taehyung. Jimin watched with a horrified yet intrigued expression as his best friend drank up the blood greedily.

“There we go, that should hold you for now.” Hoseok said when Taehyung had finished the whole bag. Taehyung was already looking better, less—rabid like before. He now sat (still chained) with his eyes closed, licking the remaining droplets of blood off his lips. When he opened his eyes again, they gleamed red.

Jimin gasped at the sight. “T-Taehyung?” he tentatively called.

Taehyung’s gaze flitted over to Jimin and he now just looked confused. “Jiminie? What’s—what happened?”

Felix tuned out from there as they caught Taehyung up the recent events. There was a lot of wide gesturing and enthusiastic explaining coming from Hoseok, and all Felix could think about were how his prejudices against certain beings had been wrong, again.

There really was no point in judging anyone from now on, not when vampires could be as vicious and bloodthirsty as the ones that had attacked them, and then be as jovial and helpful as Hoseok.

“You alright?” Changbin asked softly when Felix must have been zoning out for too long.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, just—thinking.” Felix said. Changbin pecked him on the cheek.

“Thinking about what?”

“You.” Was Felix’s immediate response. It hadn’t even been true, necessarily, just a reflex, but it did make Changbin blush cutely, so Felix called it a win.

“I was just—thinking about Hoseok, and how—friendly he is, you know, for a vampire.”

Changbin bumped her shoulder into his, “You learn more every day, don’t you?” 

Felix glanced over at her cheeky smile and laughed. “Yes, Binnie. With you, I’m leaning every single day.”

“Well, that’s about all we have to share for now.” Hoseok said, standing up. “Let’s untie him, I’ll take him back with me!”

“What are we going to do about the blood?” Felix whispered to Changbin.

“Oh right, I almost forgot about that.” Changbin said as they stood up. She walked over to tap Jimin on the shoulder. Jimin looked down at her with a soft smile. Felix could see the fondness in his eyes, but for once—he didn’t want to poke Jimin’s eyes out. The poor boy had been through a lot in the last hour, after all.

Felix watched as the fond expression on Jimin’s face turned to one of confusion, to one of embarrassment, and then surprise. When Felix tried to read his thoughts, it was a jumble of

_She want’s my what?_

_She thinks I’m a virgin?_

_Well, she’s not wrong—_

_My blood?_

_They did kind of just save me, and Tae—_

He saw Jimin give a tiny nod, and a grateful smile spread across Changbin’s face making Jimin smile as his thoughts turned to gush and—

“Okay! So blood.” Felix said, striding up to the two before the boy got any wrong ideas. _You let him be for one minute and this is how he repays you._

“Right, how do we do this?” Jimin asked holding out his arms gingerly.

“Lix? Can you do your thing and conjure up a bowl or something?” Changbin asked.

“You got it, boss.” Felix conjured up a nice sized bowl for their blood collecting purposes.

She gave the bowl to Minho to hold under one of Jimin’s hands before reaching up with her blade. Jimin flinched.

“Don’t worry, Felix will heal you right up once we’re done.” Changbin assured somewhat sheepishly. Jimin nodded, jaw tense.

“Hold the fledging, it’s about to get a little bloody up in here.” Jisung said, and Hoseok grabbed onto a confused Taehyung’s arm.

Jimin hissed as Changbin sliced cleanly across his palm. The blood trickled down into the basin of the bowl, and Changbin asked him uncomfortably if he could squeeze his hand so the blood would flow. Jimin nodded, but winced as he did so, the discomfort clear on his face.

When the blood eventually slowed to a trickle, Minho pulled the bowl away.

“I’m sorry about that,” Changbin apologized, watching as Jimin curled his hand to his chest.

“’s alright, it’s the least I could do for you saving us.” He said. Felix reached out to take Jimin’s hand into his and healed the wound up nicely. Jimin stared in awe at his newly healed hand.

“That’s so cool.” He breathed.

“Alright kid, Hoseok here will take you both with him. Don’t worry, he won’t bite.” Jisung clasped his hand onto Jimin’s shoulder and winked at him.

“Also—I would suggest getting laid as soon as possible. Virgin blood is a hot commodity in the underworld market. You’re practically a walking target!”

Jimin sputtered at the demon’s words, cheeks reddening profusely. Minho snickered from the side, Felix just rolled his eyes.

All things considered, their mission could have been a lot worse. Now all that was left, was to summon Lucifer.

~

Jeongin was tossing and turning in the giant bed of their suit. Seungmin had woken up when the demon had kicked him in the side. He was about to scold Jeongin when he saw they boy’s face scrunched in distress, sweat beading along his forehead.

“Innie—” Seungmin reached out wanting to wake the boy up, but the minute he touched Jeongin’s forehead, he felt the strangest sensation and found himself not where he’d been seconds ago.

Instead, he was out on their balcony. It was still dark out, which made sense, but something seemed off _._ Seungmin turned around to see the pool right where it should be, the water rippling—though there was no breeze. Even this high up, there wasn’t the slightest hint of wind.

In fact, everything was silent. Panic surged up in Seungmin’s chest, he turned ready to race back inside to get Hyunjin and Jeongin—only to see Jeongin was right there, further down the balcony looking over the railing.

Seungmin felt completely out of place here, like he’d been transported—

_Oh shit, am I in his dream?_

Later he might be impressed with his quick discerning skills, but now he was far too disoriented, his only goal to get to Jeongin.

“Jeongin—” Seungmin called, but his voice was gone almost instantly, like it was stuck in the thick air surrounding him. Jeongin didn’t look up at him once, not even when Seungmin finally reached his side. The boy only continued to stare down below.

Seungmin glanced over the railing and gasped at the sight. The world was burning below him, something much like lava had seeped through the city streets. Fires were everywhere, lapping up the sides of skyscrapers like they were mere matches made of wood and not steel.

The heat was almost blistering, in the way that reminded Seungmin of Hell.

“Jeongin—” Seungmin called more urgently, he reached out to shake the demon, but when Seungmin physically reached out to turn his face towards him, Jeongin’s eyes were full black, his expression caught in one of horror.

Seungmin startled, lurching backwards, tear springing into his eyes.

“J—Jeongin,” Seungmin called again, but Jeongin stayed still like a puppet, unmoving without someone pulling his strings.

Seungmin started towards the other again, needing to do something, to _save_ him. He was a Nephilim now, _god damnit_. He had to be able to do _something_ —

“Oh? You’re here too?” A voice came, sweet as molasses from the entrance of the suit. Seungmin gulped at the tall figure that made his way towards them.

“I have to say, I wasn’t expecting you to be here.” The figure mused, seeming more inquisitive than anything. “But I can’t say I’m too surprised, given what you are, Nephilim.”

Seungmin was speechless, he didn’t have a clue what to say. It only made it worse when recognition dawned upon him at just who it was that was talking. 

“L-Lucifer?” Seungmin managed to spit out. Lucifer smiled at that, arms sweeping out in a grand gesture.

“In the flesh. Well—more or less.” He walked over to Jeongin, who still stood with that same horrid, terrified expression, and Seungmin had to do something.

“No, stop—”

“I must admit, you took me completely by surprise before, but I can assure you that won’t happen again, especially not here.” Lucifer chuckled. He stopped by Jeongin’s side, squishing his cheeks together fondly—but it wasn’t fond, not by a long shot.

“Get away from him.” Seungmin growled, anger quickly building inside him.

“Try as you may, you won’t be able to stop me.” Lucifer said. “Jeongin is already in my grasp.”

“W-what do you mean?” Seungmin asked, inching his way towards them ever so slowly, like one wrong move might compel Lucifer to toss Jeongin over the ledge.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Lucifer grinned, and Jeongin started to burn. Fire igniting along his skin. Seungmin cried out in dismay, momentarily forgetting about the demon’s fire abilities, mind only registering the fact that his Jeongin was _burning alive_.

“Seungmin, Seungmin, let go!” Seungmin jolted out of the dream, more like a nightmare, to find Hyunjin desperately trying to tug Seungmin away from Jeongin who was, in fact, burning.

Seungmin quickly scrambled to get off, and just in time too, because Jeongin had started to shift. Hyunjin pulled Seungmin back behind him, both of them inching farther and farther away as Jeongin’s form started to take place. It was a form Seungmin had only seen in District 9, and soon enough, a giant, flaming cat with bat wings stood atop their bed which also caught into flames.

The overhead sprinklers went off and Seungmin and Hyunjin jumped back as Jeongin tore out of the room.

“JEONGIN STOP!” Hyunjin yelled as they raced after him, the demon was making his way to the balcony. They reached the entrance just in time to see Jeongin launch himself over the edge.

“NO!” Seungmin cried, and power shot out of his hands before he could think about it. A bright light shot out and engulfed Jeongin as he teetered on the edge of falling. Seungmin didn’t know what was happening, he only knew he couldn’t let Jeongin get away. There was no knowing where he’d go, or what he’d do like this.

Seungmin was struggling, but so was Jeongin. The demon cat strained against Seungmin’s grasp like his life depended on it. Seungmin tried, he really did, to hold Jeongin in, but the demon was too much and Seungmin didn’t have a grasp on his powers. Jeongin triumphantly broke free from his hold—only to fall.

They both cried out, racing to the railing. Jeongin’s wings weren’t enough to support him, he couldn’t fly, he couldn’t—

When the looked over the ledge, there was nothing. Not a single indication that Jeongin was ever there. The ground beneath them was as normal as can be. No molten lava, no raging fires—just cars moving like ants down below.

And no Jeongin.

Seungmin crumpled into Hyunjin’s side, crying. “Jinnie, w-where did he go?”

Tears streamed down Hyunjin’s own face as he desperately grabbed onto Seungmin. “I don’t—I don’t know. Seungie, what happened? I woke up and Jeongin was on fire, and you were just—sitting there, completely out of it. I thought you’d—”

Seungmin buried his face into Hyunjin’s neck, tears wetting his already soaked shirt.

“I was in his dream.” Seungmin said between tears, “It was Lucifer, he said—he said he already had Jeongin, Jinnie.”

Hyunjin held him closer, arms curling around Seungmin’s head.

“We’ll get him back, Seungmin. We’ll go right now, we’ll—”

“Seungmin!” Came a familiar voice. Seungmin couldn’t see from his position, wrapped tight in Hyunjin’s arms, but it sounded an awful lot like Chan.

“Chan?” Seungmin hiccupped, pulling his head out of Hyunjin’s protective cocoon to spot the demon king along with—Jaehyun? Hyunjin narrowed his eyes menacingly at the angel, pulling Seungmin further into his embrace.

“What the blazing hell happened? We felt your distress, I—” Chan’s eyes were wild, his white hair equally so.

“It’s Jeongin.” Hyunjin replied for him. “Seungmin got sucked into one of his dreams. It’s Lucifer. He got him.” Hyunjin’s eyes welled with new tears and he gripped Seungmin impossibly tighter.

Chan’s fists clenched and unclenched beside him. He then looked up into the sky and let out a blood curdling scream. It was so out of character, the scream shook Seungmin deep in his bones.

Jaehyun stood a few paces back, wide eyes only staring. The space around Chan was growing gradually darker, much like an angel’s glowing aura, but—the complete opposite.

Darkness swathed around him like a living organism, and Seungmin had half a heart to be concerned for the king, until the shadows around him started to speak, and Seungmin felt stricken for an entirely different reason.

“Those are—they’re—” Hyunjin couldn’t finish his sentence, they gaped at the display in front of him. There was no mistaking it. The dark aura around the king _was_ alive, alive with the whispering voices of the shadows of District 9.

“How is that—how is that possible?” Hyunjin asked. The swirls wound around Chan like a tornado.

“Fuck, you two, get out of here!” Jaehyun screamed at them, and Hyunjin for once, didn’t fight him on it.

“W-wait! We can’t just leave Chan here—” Seungmin had never felt that close to the king before, in all honestly. He hadn’t even liked the king much when they’d first met. But something must have changed, because the idea of leaving Chan alone with whatever was happening to him seemed to Seungmin almost as hard as having to watch Jeongin get ripped away from him.

“Go,” Jaehyun urged, “I’ve got him, don’t worry.”

Hyunjin scoffed at that, and Seungmin could almost hear the retort at the tip of the angel’s tongue, but now was not the time.

“Come on, Seungie.”

Seungmin shook his head, he didn’t know why, he didn’t get why he couldn’t leave Chan behind.

“It’s okay, Seungmin. I promise. _Go_.” Jaehyun had never looked more earnest, but it was more than that, Seungmin could _feel_ it. He knew somehow, that Jaehyun truly meant it.

Hyunjin wrapped his hand around Seungmin’s and the two of them vanished from the scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D:  
> Jaechan's dynamic is fun to write ngl, maybe I just have a thing for Jaehyun's character LOL idkk  
> Also, damn why is Inminjin so tragic, why did I write them like this?? 
> 
> Theories? Comments? Tell me what you think! Thanks for reading guys~


	24. Three roads diverged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone just wants to go to Hell, but what happens when Hell is closed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOP another long overdue chapter :(  
> But I hope you guys enjoy ^^

Turns out, summoning Lucifer was not going to be as easy as they’d thought. Problem number one: they couldn’t get back to Hell.

“What do you mean you can’t get back into Hell?” Minho asked as Jisung stared at them perplexed. The four of them were standing outside of the decrepit vampire church. Jimin, Taehyung, and Hobi already having left. A cold breeze had started to pick up in the night air, it smelled like it might start to rain.

“I mean just that.” Jisung said, “I can’t teleport in.”

“Let me try.” Changbin and Felix offered simultaneously. A few seconds later, and they were still there.

“It’s like—someone severed the connection? I can’t even feel it.” Changbin gaped.

“So, you’re saying Hell is closed?” Minho sputtered, flabbergasted.

“What about the main entrances? Maybe it’s just a block on teleporting?” Changbin sounded worried. “There must be something wrong, Chan—” She trailed off.

“I’m sure Channie hyung is just fine.” Jisung reassured, but Minho saw the slight tick in Jisung’s eye that said he didn’t believe it as much as he let on.

“Well, there’s no use standing around here, let’s go try the entrances.” Felix said.

“Are we going back to that preschool again?” Minho asked. Jisung shook his head.

“Nah, there’s another entrance closer to here.”

“What? Then why didn’t we use it last time?” Minho said, “Wait, as a matter of fact, why didn’t we just teleport into Hell in the first place?”

Jisung went suspiciously silent before he took off, briskly walking down the winding path. Changbin started to laugh.

“Ahh, our little Jisungie was trying to impress you.” Changbin teased, sidling up to Minho with a wink before she ran to catch up with Jisung. They watched as Changbin slung an arm over the demon’s shoulder, her momentum almost knocking them both over.

It turns out, the closer Gate to Hell was in an equally as suspicious spot as the gate in the preschool.

Minho stopped short when the four of them came up to a nondescript playground.

“No. Don’t tell me the second Gate to Hell is at a fucking playground? What’s up with Hell and kids?”

“Well, what’s worse than a demon?” Changbin asked, her hands raised in a shrug.

“A child.” Jisung finished, staring at nothing. He looked like he’d been through some things. Changbin pointed a finger gun at him in agreeance.

“Oookay?” Minho looked at Felix to see if he was the only one confused, but Felix only shrugged.

Jisung and Changbin made their way over to the swings. Minho watched as the two demons sat down on and started swinging.

“Uhh, are you taking a break before going to Hell?” Minho asked from the sidelines. Jisung and Changbin’s legs were really pumping, getting them to swing higher and higher.

“No, Min,” Jisung said in between each swing. “It’s, necessary, for, the, next, step!”

Before Minho could question further, Jisung sprung off the swing, hurtling through the air and straight—into the sandbox. The demon sat there blinking as a sand cloud billowed up around him.

“What? It really didn’t work?” Changbin questioned, jumping too, but instead landing gracefully in a crouch right next to the sandbox.

“It should have worked—” Jisung muttered, face caked with sand. “Maybe another entrance?”

Changbin and Felix shared a look, “Um, Jisung?”

“Yeah! Maybe they just—moved this entrance? Maybe the other ones are still the same!” Jisung’s voice was growing increasingly frantic. He scrambled out of the sandbox, spraying sand all over. Changbin, who was closest, coughed as a bunch of sand was hurtled straight into her face. Minho thankfully ducked out of the way right in time.

“Jisung—” Felix called again, but the demon seemed to be in hyperdrive.

“You guys wait right here, I’ll go check and get back to you!” Before Minho could even reach out to stop him, Jisung disappeared from the air.

Changbin sighed, spitting sand out of her mouth. Felix came over to brush some of it out of her hair.

“He’s panicking.” Changbin said. Minho’s heart spiked with concern, but not a minute later, Jisung came back stumbling right into Minho’s arms.

“Fuck, the elementary one is closed too! And so is the daycare, and even the strip club!”

Minho wasn’t going to question that one.

“Jisungie, calm down, it’s okay.” Changbin said.

“No, there’s got to be something wrong, something horribly, horribly wrong!” Jisung cried, turning to his best friend. Changbin had a frown etched deep on her face.

“I—I don’t know what’s going on, but we have to believe they’re okay, we have too think rationally abo—”

Jisung suddenly gasped, “Unholy Hell, wait! There _is_ another entrance!”

“What? Another gate?” Changbin asked.

“Not quiet.” Jisung said, a maniac smile coming over his face. “I made it one day when I was super bored, and Minho was holed up in the library—”

“Oh no, don’t tell me,” Minho said, realization dawning. “You did _not_ make a portal to Hell in the school library!”

Jisung’s smile grew, “Oh, but I did.”

They teleported to the campus library, and Minho was abruptly awash with nostalgia. It hadn’t even been that long ago that he occupied those very desks, studying or doing his homework, and yet—it felt like an entire lifetime ago.

Back then, Minho had tried his very bestest to ignore his guardian demon. They hated each other’s guts. Minho would have killed to poke Jisung’s eyes out. Now, he would kill if anyone tried to poke Jisung’s eyes out.

He also kind of wanted to shove him up against a library shelf and kiss him senseless. Looking back, that could have been a much better use of both their time.

The library never truly closed, but since it was winter break, there was practically no one in there, especially not so late at night.

Jisung led them through the library, taking the stairs down to the basement where they kept the books no one really cared for. You know the type, super niche science journals, and autobiographies.

Jisung mumbled the shelving letters as he went before turning down the H’s. The aisle felt like it went on forever, the three of them trailing behind as Jisung trailed a finger over the spines of the books, muttering under his breath. He stopped abruptly, letting out an “aha!” and Minho all but ran into him.

Jisung pulled out a book titled “Hell: An all-encompassing guide.” Minho frowned at it but knew better than to question it at this point.

Jisung did something to the book, and when he placed it back into its spot, it started to glow a dark red. In fact, the whole section of books started glowing.

Jisung gripped Minho’s hand, smiling as he watched the section of books dissolve into—well, nothing. Where the books used to be was a darkness much like a void. Minho felt like his eyes were playing tricks on him as he stared into the pitch-black nothing.

“Tada! My secret gate to Hell!” Jisung flung his arms out in a flourish.

“Sungie, you’re a genius!” Changbin clapped, dragging Felix towards the pit of darkness.

“Hold on, shouldn’t we have a game plan? What if we’re walking into complete chaos? You know, all Hell broken lose?” Felix said with a slight smile. Oh hoh so he thought he was funny. Changbin didn’t seem to agree, shooting the angel a death glare.

“Okay fine, game plan is—we stick together. Lay low. Scope out the situation.” Changbin said. “Our first priority is to find Chan. He’ll know what’s happening, he has to.”

That sounded good enough to them, so they all stepped into Jisung’s makeshift portal, the swath of darkness curling around them, engulfing them as they passed through.

~

Hyunjin had wracked his brain thinking of the safest place to take Seungmin, but every place he came up with had some sort of drawback.

He could take Seungmin to Hell, but that was also probably where Lucifer was, and Hyunjin wasn’t sure it was the greatest idea to have Seungmin and Lucifer in the same realm. Especially since Lucifer knew he was a Nephilim now.

No matter how much Hyunjin wanted to find Jeongin, he still had another boyfriend to think about too.

“It’s fine Jin, I can take care of myself. We need to find Jeongin.” Seungmin argued. He was twisting the empathy connection ring on his finger. It had been rather silent since Jeongin had left, which was rather concerning, to be honest. Why was Jeongin not feeling anything at all?

He was still alive, that much they could tell, but other than that—it was like static.

“I know that, Minnie. I want to find him just as much as you do.” And it was true, it was beyond true. Hyunjin and Jeongin had been together for months now, practically tied at the hip. They were all each other had when Seungmin had been—killed. The only ones that understood what each other was going through.

With Jeongin gone, it felt like a part of Hyunjin was missing. Where Seungmin might be his right side, Jeongin was his left, both boys taking up all the space in his heart.

“Maybe I should take you to Heaven,” Hyunjin mused, but a part of him still worried what Chan had said would be true. That the second he took Seungmin to Heaven, they’d be able to sense him. A powerful being such as a Nephilim couldn’t go unnoticed—but what if he could?

“This isn’t a debate, Hyunjin. We’re going to Hell and we’re going to find Jeongin.” Seungmin said in defiance. “Especially if Lucifer has him _and_ the crown. Innie’s in danger!”

Hyunjin let out a long breath, “Alright. You’re right. Jeongin’s our first priority.” He grabbed Seungmin’s hand and squeezed, giving the Nephilim a smile. Seungmin looked relieved to be doing something other than pacing and debating what to do next. Worrying over what could be happening to Jeongin at that very second.

Except—when Hyunjin went to teleport into to Hell, he couldn’t.

“What—?” Hyunjin tried again, and again, but nothing happened.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t teleport in.”

This had never happened before, Hell had never been _closed._ Hyunjin didn’t even think that was possible.

“Well, is there any other way in?” Seungmin asked.

“There is one way,” Hyunjin said, “But it’s kind of risky.”

“Risky, how?”

“There’s a portal to Hell in the Miroh, but it would involve having to sneak you past all the angels.”

“Is there a way to do that?” Seungmin asked. Hyunjin pondered on this for a few moments. It was Seungmin’s aura, it was so strong now that he was a Nephilim, but perhaps Hyunjin could tie up that aura, make it so it had a shorter range, that only people standing right next to him would be able to tell. 

“Let me try something.” Hyunjin said, reaching out to rest his hand on Seungmin’s forehead. Seungmin let him, eyes slipping shut, ever trusting. Hyunjin’s heart swelled at the gesture.

He felt out Seungmin’s strong aura, trying to wrangle it into a nice bow, so to speak. His aura was not having it though, not wanting to be contained, so Hyunjin struggled harder.

Seungmin let out a grunt, even if he didn’t know what exactly was happening, he must be somewhat aware of it. Hyunjin felt like he was in a battle with a wriggly animal. Not that Hyunjin had ever been in a power struggle with an animal before (see: ghost bear).

Eventually, Hyunjin won out, quickly tying his metaphorical ribbon around Seungmin’s aura so it was now contained.

“Did you do it?” Seungmin asked when Hyunjin retracted his hand, panting like he’d run a mile. The angel nodded.

“No one will be able to detect you unless they’re super close to you.”

“Perfect, then let’s go.”

Seungmin was so confident in whatever he did. Hyunjin admired it as much as it worried him sometimes. Seungmin would walk straight into a fight if he thought he had a chance, guns blazing.

No matter, Hyunjin wouldn’t let anything happen to Seungmin. He couldn’t lose them both, not ever.

~

Hell was—dark. Like someone had turned out the lights. Hell didn’t even have that many lights to begin with, but the torches that lined the stoned walls were all snuffed out. Felix’s slight glow was the only thing illuminating their path as the four of them walked through the stoned hallways towards the center of Hell.

So far, they hadn’t run into any demons either. It was like everyone had disappeared.

 _Either that or they’re hiding,_ Jisung thought.

Something clearly was not right. _We just have to get to the throne room_ , Jisung thought, _Chan will know what was happening, surely…_

Felix, who had taken up the front to light their way (like their own, personal Rudolf) stopped abruptly, motioning them all to wait as heavy footsteps came their way.

A group of demons rounded the corner on them, all dressed in surprisingly nice robes. Almost—ceremonial. The moment they saw them, the demon’s immediately went on guard, drawing their swords with a _shing_.

“What is this? What are you doing?” Jisung asked, summoning his own demon blade and letting his human façade drop into his demon form. He did have some power in Hell after all, he _was_ part of the Unholy Trinity.

Jisung watched, taken off guard as the demons only scoffed at him, swords still brandished threateningly.

“Looks like you haven’t heard the news.” One of the demon’s in the front said. Jisung had never seen him before. He’d never seen any of them before, clearly not a part of Chan’s carefully selected Hell system.

“What news?” Changbin snarled, she too had switched back into demon form, red runes glowing across her paper white skin.

“Hell is closed for business, at least for the time being, as the king has declared it.”

Jisung scoffed, “Chan would never do such a thing—” but before he could finish, the demons all burst out laughing.

“Chan? Chan has no hold over this realm anymore.”

Jisung paled at his words, not liking what the demon was implying at all.

“Where is he,” Changbin demanded, voice dangerously low. Her demon blade seemed to gleam in her hands, even though the hallway was still shrouded in darkness.

One of the demon’s shrugged, “Who knows? Who _cares?_ There’s a new king now, he has finally come, the king Lucifer promised.”

“What the Hell are you talking about?” Jisung snapped, getting angry at the lack of information he currently knew.

“A new king has risen, one rightful of the throne. The King of Hellfire.” The demon said reverently, all of them bringing a fist to their chests like an oath.

A shiver went through Jisung. He’d heard that name before, but—from where? Why did it sound so familiar—?

Changbin sharply inhaled beside him, “Jeongin.”

Jisung’s eyes grew wide. Right, Jeongin. Son of Lucifer. Prince of Hellfire. Jeongin had warned them Lucifer was preparing for a new king. Jisung didn’t think they’d be too late to stop it. 

“Enough chatter, if you’re going to stay here, you must adhere to the new orders.” The demon in the front said.

“And what new orders would that be?” Jisung asked, much less sure of himself than before.

“No demon’s out and about until the king has settled in.”

“I don’t suppose we could ask to be seen by the king?” Changbin asked, voice dropping into a sultry tone. Jisung’s head snapped to her incredulously, watching as she twirled a dark strand of her hair around a finger. The demon seemed transfixed by the gesture.

“He—he is not accepting any guests at the moment.” The demon said, eyes drifting up from Changbin’s finger when Changbin dipped her tongue out to wet her lips. Felix started to glow a little more brightly behind her.

“Really?” Changbin pouted, coming closer to the demon, reaching out to place a finger under the demon’s chin, lifting his face up, “You can’t even make one exception, for me?” She cocked her head, a curtain of smooth black falling over her shoulder.

The demon gaped at the display. His other friends were staring, seeming equally as transfixed by Changbin. Jisung supposed they didn’t see many demon’s as hot as Changbin, especially not one flirting with them before. Jisung had to bite back a smile at the absurdity of the scene.

“I—I—” the demon continued, before shaking his head forcibly, “No. No one can see the king. However,” The demon’s eyes flickered even lower down Changbin’s body. “If you want some company while you wait—”

Changbin’s hopeful, doe look dropped off her face in an instant, eyes glowing red before she plunged her blade straight into the demon. The demon’s eyebrows scrunched together, not quite comprehending what just happened. Though it didn’t really matter at this point. He was dead anyways.

“Ugh,” Changbin scuffed, distaste clear on her features as the demon dropped to the floor. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes as the other demons openly stared at her in disbelief. One of the demons snapped out of their stupor quicker than the others and charged at Changbin with a yell, but he was cut down far before he ever reached Changbin by Felix. The angel’s blade swinging down in a glowing arch. The demon dissolved into ash the moment he was struck.

From there the two sides charged at each other, though it was hardly a battle with two members of the Unholy Trinity and an Angel of Heaven on one team. Felix smote demons left and right, Heavenly light illuminating the hallway in blue light.

Changbin and Jisung slashed at demons side by side, the lines on their body glowing with each powerful swing. And Minho, his fully capable Lee Minho, stabbing with his very own (borrowed) sword through the demons, putting all their training to use. Jisung couldn’t be prouder as Minho sliced clean through a demon, it’s black blood spraying all over Minho.

Jisung thought he looked delectable. 

In the end they stood barely panting.

“Well, I think that went well.” Changbin said, making the black blood on her blade disappear with a wave of her hand. “Come on, we know what to do now at least. We have to get the rest of the ingredients to summon Lucifer.”

“Where do you think Chan went?” Minho asked Jisung as their group stared back down the hallway at a quicker pace.

“I don’t know,” Jisung said, worrying his lip. They hadn’t been expecting Chan to not be there at all. “but if we see Jeongin, I’m sure he’ll tell us what’s going on.”

It was Jeongin after all, and if Jeongin was the new King of Hell, then it couldn’t be all bad. But a corner of Jisung’s mind reminded him that if Jeongin was king, it was most definitely Lucifer’s doing, and Lucifer had the Golden Fillet, meaning—they all just might be screwed.

~

Sneaking Seungmin into Heaven was almost too easy. Hyunjin was really starting to question their security measures up there. He motioned for Seungmin to follow him as they slinked down the bright hallways of Heaven. There was a lot of commotion as the angels rushed around. Hyunjin figured it must be because Hell had suddenly closed down out of nowhere.

“What in Heaven is the king thinking?” Hyunjin had heard one angel say as him and Seungmin stopped to wait for them to pass. “Does he know how many complications this causes us?”

 _Do you know how unusual this is? How worried this has made us?_ Hyunjin thought bitterly in his head. Leave it to angels to disregard Hell and its demons all together. They didn’t give two flying feathers about what was going on in Hell, only at the inconvenience it had caused them.

Hyunjin and Seungmin had a few more close encounters with angels, once he’d even spotted Jihyo, who had stopped abruptly when she’d gotten somewhat close to them. She looked around, and Hyunjin swore her eyes stayed a little longer in their general direction, but she was too far, surely she couldn’t sense Seungmin from there—but then someone called for her and she left.

Finally, they made it to the Miroh, though they had guards standing outside now. Ever since Jeongin had melted the portal to District 9, they’d decided that the Miroh was invaluable enough to prompt extra protection.

Hyunjin cursed at the sight, until he realized just who the guards were, well one of them at least.

“Seungmin, you stay here, I’ll get rid of them, and then we can go.” 

Seungmin only nodded, miming zipping his lips closed as he stayed put. Hyunjin pecked him on the cheek before casually stepping out of the doorway they’d been hiding in.

“Oh, Hyunjin!” Mark called as Hyunjin made his nonchalant way up to them.

“Ah, Mark! Long time no see.” Hyunjin said with the kindest smile he could make. It wasn’t too much of a stretch, since he liked the boy after all. Mark was one of their newest angels, but also extremely promising. Everyone had loved him in angel training.

The other angel, however, was not one of Hyunjin’s favorites. Junghoon was only a little older than Mark, but he already had the pompous, “angels are the greatest beings in the universe and nothing else matters” attitude that came with a lot of the century old angels in Heaven. Hyunjin’s smile turned sour when he nodded at Junghoon to acknowledge he was there.

“Yes, a long time indeed,” Mark said with a smile, though it quickly dropped. “I can’t believe what’s happening with Hell right now. Are they allowed to do that? To just close down?”

Junghoon scoffed, “Of course they’re not allowed to, but they’re demons, what did you expect? They do whatever they want anyways, they don’t care how their actions affect others.”

Hyunjin let out a sigh, head cocking to the side as he took Junghoon in.

“You’ve got some pretty defective views of demons, there Hoonie.” Hyunjin said, taking pleasure when the boy scowled at the nickname.

“They’re not defective,” The angel snapped, “It’s the truth.”

Hyunjin looked over at Mark, the angel looked rather dejected by Junghoon’s words. He kept his face more or less expressionless, but Hyunjin saw how the grip on his sword had tightened.

Mark was a good egg.

“Do you know any demon’s, Junghoon?” Hyunjin asked idly, he knew he had a bigger task at hand here, but he couldn’t help himself. He really hated the lofty attitude that a lot of angels had over their demon counter parts.

“Well, no.” Junghoon started, “Not that I’d want too anyways. Why would anyone acquaint themselves with such scum?”

“Junghoon!” Came a familiar voice from down the hall. Jihyo.

Hyunjin turned to face angel walking purposefully towards them. If there was anyone Hyunjin was avoiding up here, Jihyo was top of his list. She was the angel highest up after Felix after all, she’d certainly have some questions for him.

“They need you over in the meeting room.” Jihyo said with a tip of her head in the meeting room’s direction. Junghoon bowed in understanding, he looked at Hyunjin judgingly once more before jogging off down the hall.

Jihyo walked over to them. Mark straightening as she approached.

“Hyunjin, it’s good to see you. You disappeared on us for a while.” She said, voice unreadable. Hyunjin could never quite read Jihyo. Sometimes she seemed so plain, written in solid black and white that she could only be the strait-laced angel she seemed to exude.

Other times, Hyunjin wondered whose side she was on. Was she one of the pompous angels? Or was she one of them? The ones that understood the worth of demons, that they weren’t inherently bad, that they had been created to be the angel’s counterpart, to keep the universe in balance.

Jihyo’s eyes flickered somewhere behind him before settling on Hyunjin again. Her gaze was so strong Hyunjin had to stop himself from shifting under it.

“Have you seen Felix lately? He’s been missing for quite some time now.” Jihyo said, mouth perpetually tipped down in a small frown, “He is the stand in leader of Heaven after all, but he has been absent from his duties for a bit too long,”

“I saw him, a little while ago.” Hyunjin said as vaguely as he could. He couldn’t very well tell Jihyo the last time they’d been together had been in Hell’s throne room, conspiring with the King of Hell himself. He especially couldn’t tell her that with Jihyo being so unreadable.

“I’m worried for him. I have reason to believe that he—” Jihyo stopped herself, clearing her throat. “Just, tell him to come back if you see him, okay?” Jihyo smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Hyunjin only nodded, watching as Jihyo walked crisply back down the hallway.

“Is she always—like that?” Hyunjin asked when Jihyo was out of sight.

Mark nodded. “She scares me.” He said, making Hyunjin laugh. Jihyo was a force to be reckoned with indeed.

“How long have you been standing here?” Hyunjin asked.

Mark seemed a little taken off guard, “Oh, uh, a while. Hours, at least,”

Hyunjin gasped dramatically, “You’ve been standing here for hours without a break?” Mark opened his mouth, but Hyunjin barreled on, “That’s against protocol! You should be given a break every few hours. You should bring it up with our AR department.” 

“Oh, really?” Mark asked, shifting on his feet like he’d just been told he could move again.

“Yes, here, why don’t I take your spot for a bit? You can take a break and bring it up with AR while you’re at it.”

“Are you sure?” Mark asked, eyes wide, or maybe his eyes were always wide, either way Hyunjin found it endearing. He smiled and nodded at the boy.

“Thanks, Hyunjin! I owe you!” Mark said as he quickly bounced off down the hallway.

“I believe I’m the one who will be owing you,” Hyunjin said, biting his lip as he watched Mark disappear down the hall.

Did he feel a little bad deceiving Mark? Yeah, but the matter at hand meant far too much for him. He had to do it.

He quickly crossed back to where Seungmin was hiding finding the boy peering discretely around the wall. Hyunjin smiled at the cute sight, motioning Seungmin to come over quickly.

Seungmin was halfway to him when a voice came, making them freeze in their spot, right out in the middle of the hallway.

“I thought I sensed something amiss.”

“Jihyo—” Hyunjin started, turning towards the angel.

“It’s—a Nephilim,” Jihyo said in shock and disbelief, the most emotion Hyunjin had ever seen from her. “How—how is that possible?”

“Jihyo, please, I’ll explain everything later, but now, we have to get to Hell—”

“Hyunjin, you can’t expect me to let you go after bringing— _this_ up here.” Jihyo said, gesturing to Seungmin. Seungmin stiffened at his side.

“He shouldn’t exist, this—this could ruin everything!” Jihyo said, sounding slightly crazed.

“Jihyo, _please_ , I’m asking that you let us go.” Hyunjin begged, sliding his hand into Seungmin’s protectively. “We have to get to Hell, we can help you figure out why it’s closed, we can—”

“No no, we can’t let the Nephilim out of our sights. He’s far too dangerous, especially now that we’ve suddenly lost contact with Hell. We don’t know what they could be planning.” Jihyo stopped then, looking back at Hyunjin with narrowed eyes.

“What are you planning? What have you brought upon us?” Jihyo accused. Hyunjin watched with increasing trepidation as the angel summoned an angel blade into her hand.

“Jihyo, it’s not like that—” Hyunjin tried to explain, but Jihyo didn’t let him finish.

“Felix is apart of this, isn’t he? I knew it. It’s that demon lover of his. He’s been spewing nonsense into his ear.” She spat.

Ah, so that was where Jihyo stood.

“Don’t drag Changbin into this,” Hyunjin said, voice taking a dangerous lilt, “He’s innocent—”

Jihyo let out a crazed laugh, “I see the devil’s gotten to you too. You’re compromised.” Jihyo said, lifting her angel blade. Hyunjin gripped Seungmin’s hand, slowly backing them away.

“Innocent? _Innocent?_ Demons are not innocent, Jin. Far from it. Why else do you think angels were put here?”

Hyunjin sensed movement from behind them and turned to see more angels were blocking their path from both sides now. Their arms crossed in front of them in a way Hyunjin knew was to ward off magic. They couldn’t teleport out of there even if they tried.

Mark stood among them, a sad look in his eyes.

“Mark—” Hyunjin started, but he wasn’t sure what he was hoping for. Even if Mark did believe him, it wasn’t like the young angel could do much in this circumstance.

“You’re staying here, Hyunjin,” Jihyo stated, “You and your _Nephilim_ , until Felix comes back, and we get our answers.” But she didn’t sound like she only wanted answers, she sounded like she wanted justice. Justice that wasn’t just.

“No, you don’t understand—” Hyunjin started forwards but a few angels broke rank, coming up to grab him and Seungmin. Junghoon was the one to grab him, sneering at Hyunjin with malicious joy. Seungmin started to struggle, but Jihyo gave him a sharp look.

“Don’t try anything, _Nephilim_.” Jihyo said, “You shouldn’t even exist, an angel-demon abomination. If you so much as take one step out of bounds, we won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Hyunjin looked frantically at Seungmin, silently begging him not to do anything, but the boy didn’t so much as flinch. Only staring back at Jihyo with his silent defiance. Hyunjin felt an odd mixture of panic and pride at the same time. How did their situation turn from bad to worse so quickly?

“Take them to the holding cells.” Jihyo said, her word final as the angels holding them started to push them towards that direction.

Hyunjin couldn’t think of a way out of this one, at least not right now. He needed more time to think. All he knew was that he could not let Felix come back to Heaven and walk right into a trap.

Hyunjin’s heart fell, he hoped their friends knew to search for Jeongin. He prayed that things were going better for them, that Jeongin was still okay. The ring fastened on his finger still hadn’t given them any clues, but no news was good news, right? Hyunjin gulped.

_Just hang in there a little longer, Innie, we’ll find you, and we’ll all be together again._

~

Jaehyun didn’t take Chan far, when Hyunjin and Seungmin disappeared off the balcony, Jaehyun dragged Chan back into the rooftop suite of the king’s resort.

“Chan, Channie, can you hear me?” The shadows had stopped swirling around him, but in their place the king had stood, comatose, his black eyes on display, but no other outward sign that he was there.

“Channie,” Jaehyun sat the king down on the sunken couch. He went easily enough, like he was sleepwalking. Jaehyun lifted a hand to the king’s cheek, his fingers brushing feather light across Chan’s ink black skin.

“Chan,” Jaehyun called again when he still hadn’t garnered any response. Jaehyun leaned closer, lips barely brushing Chan’s cheek, eye lashes fluttering against his skin.

When Chan still didn’t move, Jaehyun moved so his lips were hovering right over Chan’s. Jaehyun gulped. He desperately wanted to kiss Chan, he’d waited for this moment for forever, but he couldn’t do it now, could he? Would he really kiss him when Chan wasn’t even responsive?

Jaehyun couldn’t do that. Chan hated to lose control, he wouldn’t want Jaehyun to kiss him when he couldn’t do anything about it. He’d only lose his trust all over again.

Jaehyun went to pull away, when Chan’s hands suddenly shot up to wrap around his neck. Jaehyun’s eyes went wide, thinking Chan was about to strangle him, apologies forming at the tip of his tongue—but Chan’s grip wasn’t tight, it was just—there, resting.

“Jaehyun.” Chan said, eyes blinking until they were back to their warm brown color. Jaehyun sighed in relief, hands coming up to rest over Chan’s forearms.

“Are you okay?” Jaehyun breathed, searching the king’s face for any sign that said otherwise, but Chan looked the same as he always had. His curly white hair like a halo around his head. _It might as well be._ Chan was ethereal.

“I—I think so.”

Jaehyun watched as Chan gulped. “What—what happened, Jae?”

Jaehyun shook his head softly, careful not to disturb Chan’s hands on him. Not wanting to king to let him go.

“I not entirely sure, but it looked like there were shadows around you,” Jaehyun started cautiously, “Like the shadows from District 9.”

Chan only stared at him. “District 9,” He echoed.

Jaehyun opened his mouth to say something—but he didn’t know what to say. He knew a little about District 9. Knew that it was another realm altogether. Not quite Hell, not quite the human realm, but definitely not Heaven.

District 9 was there long before any of those realms, however. It transcended the hands of space and time. Before there was light, there was darkness, and District 9 was that darkness.

They’d trapped the shadow beings of District 9 eons ago with the help of angels and demons alike. The former Leader of Angels and Lucifer himself worked side by side to make sure the ancient shadow beings were kept locked away in their own realm.

The portal to District 9 had been made in the Miroh to keep check on things, and to use if worse came to worse. The shadows couldn’t leave, but they could enter if needed. Though none of them ever had the intentions of going into that place.

That is—until one of the shadows had escaped, and lured Seungmin into the portal, therefore causing Hyunjin and Jeongin to both enter as well. It had been the first time anyone had ever journeyed into District 9 since they banished the shadows long ago, and it was the last time they thought anyone would ever have contact with district 9 since Jeongin had quite literally melted the portal altogether.

But now, Chan had somehow managed to summon those shadows, and Jaehyun was at a loss for answers.

“I don’t know, Chan. I’m sorry.”

Chan’s hands slipped off Jaehyun’s neck, but Jaehyun wouldn’t let him go completely, quickly slipping to grab Chan’s hands instead. The king didn’t seem to mind, or he was too distracted to notice.

They both sad quietly for a while, until an idea came to Jaehyun’s mind.

“You know, the Leader of Angels that trapped the shadows is long gone by now, but there is someone else who was there that is still alive today.”

Chan looked at him, “You mean—Lucifer?”

Jaehyun nodded. Chan sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

“This is a disaster. All of this. Jeongin is missing, Lucifer has the crown, you can bet those two are probably together—”

“Then, we find Lucifer, we ask him about this, and we find Jeongin while we’re at it. Two in one.” Jaehyun said. _Easy._

Chan gave him a dubious look, “I don’t think it will be that simple, Jae, but I appreciate your enthusiasm.”

“Come on, we can do right now.” Jaehyun said, standing up and trying to tug Chan up with him. Chan remained stubbornly on the couch, frowning up at him.

“Don’t you have a charge, Jaehyun? You should be with him right now.”

Jaehyun scoffed, “Don’t tell me, are you jealous, Channie?” He preened.

Chan’s lips curled incredulously, “What? No. I’m simply saying your duty is to be with your charge, and you shouldn’t leave him. Especially at a time like this.”

 _Oh,_ Jaehyun’s smile fell, slightly disappointed. He knew Chan was right, he’d left Jungkook for too long already, but he didn’t want to leave Chan to wallow alone.

“It’s okay, I’ve got some helpers, Jaehyun. I’m sure they’ve found out a way to find Lucifer by now. I’ll go back to Hell and reconvene with them first.”

Jaehyun sighed, but nodded, not meeting Chan’s eyes. He was allowed to grumble at his position, he thought. Not able to help the one he loved, stuck to protect another.

Jaehyun expected Chan to have left already, but when he sneaked a peak, Chan was still there, a confused expression on his face.

Jaehyun raised an eyebrow, “Second guessing the fact that you don’t need me to help?” Jaehyun said in what he hoped was a teasing manner instead of coming across desperate, like he felt.

Chan’s frown deepened, “I can’t—get through.”

Jaehyun’s smile faltered.

“I can’t get into Hell.” Chan said, voice taking on a panicked lilt.

“What?” Jaehyun asked incredulously. The King of Hell, couldn’t get into Hell?

“Try again.” Jaehyun said, Chan scowled.

“You don’t think I’ve been trying?”

Jaehyun tried himself, only to find the king was right. Hell was closed. Somehow.

“What—?”

“This can’t be good.” Chan said, starting to pace, “It’s got to be Lucifer, the crown—”

“Chan, don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.” Jaehyun went to place a hand on his shoulder, but the king ducked away, hand buried in his hair.

“I can’t reach them. Jisungie, Changbinnie, Innie—there’s not responding.” Chan said in dismay. When he turned to Jaehyun, his eyes shined with such vulnerability that it knocked the breath out of him.

He’d never seen the king look so helpless.

“Chan, you’re forgetting, you’re the King of Hell, and I’m—well, that’s not important, but we can figure this out. We have resources, Chan.”

“Okay, okay, you’re right.” Chan said, nodding, “So, what do we do?”

“Well, what do you do when you can’t get in somewhere?” Jaehyun asked, Chan only stared at him, so Jaehyun answered his own question. “You break through.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for hanging in there with me guys :') I promise this story will find its end! (Huh, that sounded kind of threatening--oops)  
> Let me know what you think in the comments! I really do love reading each and every one of them :')
> 
> Hope you all are doing well in the new year! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Interrogate me 😉 @[cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


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